A Strike Piercing Past, Present, and Future
The sound of a single strike that pierced through past, present, and future in the war against the Substitute Gods drove simultaneously into the highest-ranking Lord God of the Substitute Clan and the star itself.
“Kaaaaaaaah—!”
The Substitute God’s agonized scream, as though it had lost all control of its body, blended with raw divine power and echoed throughout the entire solar system.
Now the Substitute God’s ‘God Destruction’ has been completely sealed.
It had suffered near-catastrophic damage; the ferocious aura that once radiated from it was nowhere to be seen.
Whiiiiing—! Whiiing—!
The polymorph spell that had transformed him into a high-ranking Gigantes God Lord unraveled, and he descended directly onto the ground. All the Gigantes Gods had vanished as well.
The summoning of the Gigantes Gods has been canceled due to mana depletion.
His whole body felt ready to collapse at any moment from expending mana and divine power far beyond his current limits.
Doing something this insane is truly foolish, even for a former dark mage. But that highest Lord God of the Substitute Clan is genuinely dangerous.
Had it not been for his alliance with that monstrous Main God of the Divine Realm and the Demon God of the Demon Realm, he would never have pushed himself this far. Against a Substitute God Lord of that caliber, ordinary Lord Gods and Demon Gods would have stood no chance whatsoever.
It’s still alive after taking that hit? Even the Creator God himself would step forward and praise its courage.
He never wanted to see the Creator God—that epitome of empty formality—ever again.
At that moment, the Main God of the Divine Realm and the Demon God of the Demon Realm teleported toward the Substitute God Lord and spoke.
Inspired by his lethal blow, immense light surged from their blades. Swords of light and darkness spanning hundreds of kilometers materialized in the vacuum of space.
The strike radiating from those blades possesses the power to slice a star in one swing. Anything caught by it would be cut apart like tofu, and at that scale, even a planet would be split in two.
Ecstasy flooded the faces of the Main God and Demon God, who believed they could finally see the end. The fighting spirit and killing intent they emitted seemed to fill the entire universe.
The super-giant Lord Slayer spear embedded in the sixth planet’s cavity has fulfilled its role.
“Kieeeeeeeeeek—!”
It had completely pierced the core of the still-screaming highest Lord God of the Substitute Clan and the planet’s nucleus, severing their connection.
This prevents it from firing infinite God Destruction Cannons using the star’s power.
On top of that, the flames of the Sun of the Origin—which could incinerate even highest-ranking gods—were reducing its body to ash. The Lord Slayer power received from Hera was extinguishing the Substitute God Lord’s divinity.
The gravely wounded highest Lord God of the Substitute Clan was torn to shreds by the Main God of the Divine Realm and the Demon God of the Demon Realm, who laughed with pure madness as their blades of light and darkness ripped it apart.
A highest Lord God of the Substitute Clan larger than the moon is being reduced to chunks of flesh in seconds. This is a decisive victory. But my body’s condition is critical right now.
The Survival Magic Tower’s mana was exhausted, and both the Sun and Moon of the Origin were temporarily discharged, slowing his recovery.
“Hoo… I’ll have to drink this if I want to rejoin the fight.”
Gulp—! Gulp—!
He pulled a magic container from subspace filled with a liquid emitting pure white light and drained it in one go.
A refreshing, impossibly warm sensation spread through him. His body stabilized, strength returned, and his abilities rose slightly.
“Is this the Blessed Breastmilk? What an incredible authority. To recover this much and even strengthen my capabilities while completely exhausted…”
It was the Blessed Breastmilk Hera had given him before finishing her own recovery and sealing her body. The effect was undeniable—his body recovered almost instantly and overflowed with vitality. He straightened his posture and began replenishing his mana and divine power as quickly as possible.
I must be the one to finish this. The nucleus of a Substitute God Lord is the very life of the star itself. I need to secure it no matter what.
The nucleus of a Substitute God Lord that absorbed the core of a living star was literally the life of that star.
If I replicate the nucleus of a highest-ranking Substitute God Lord, I won’t simply create a divine star—I can make something close to a Main God Star.
His mouth watered at the prospect of such rare research material. He drank more of the Blessed Breastmilk to hasten his body’s recovery.
Glug—! Glug—!
After emptying the container completely, he returned it to subspace. The body that had felt ready to crack from the collision of divine power and mana healed in an instant. Moreover, his divine power increased slightly and his physique grew even stronger.
He took a deep breath and examined his condition.
Divine power below one billion? Mana also below one billion? I’ve used every drop from the Staff of the Origin, and the tower’s mana is depleted. The Demon King’s artifacts are discharged, and the temporary bottleneck in the Moon and Sun of the Origin has slowed charging. Full recovery will take over a month.
These were figures too pathetic to even call a Lord God.
Though the Blessed Breastmilk has restored my body, recharging divine power and mana is slow. Still, I need to hurry. The Substitute God Lord’s condition is ominous.
The Main God and Demon God were carving apart the Substitute God Lord that had been pinned to the star by the super-giant Lord Slayer spear, yet its life force had barely diminished since his attack.
Don’t tell me it’s willing to annihilate itself and emerge in its true body?
The colossal exterior of the Substitute Gods was a super-large biological armor designed for warfare against the armies of gods and demons.
The true body links with the nucleus and biological armor to conduct battle. The most terrifying scenario is when it discards both the nucleus and armor to rampage in its original form. Attack power roughly doubles and speed increases astonishingly. Its original defense nearly vanishes, but if a highest Lord God of the Substitute Clan abandons defense and attacks with full power, even the monstrous Main God and Demon God will be in danger.
Once a Substitute God’s true body leaves its armor and nucleus, it will perish even if it wins. Therefore it would unleash desperate, no-holds-barred attacks. Having witnessed the danger of long-range dimensional attacks combined with magic, it might very well charge in prepared to die together with them for the sake of its clan.
Solar Divinity Release
He spread all thirteen pairs of wings that shone with pure solar light to their fullest extent and rose into the air. Then he expanded the wings as wide as possible, gathering the power of the solar system’s sun.
The sun’s power recovers the fastest. Though it isn’t exclusive to me, I am still a highest-ranking upper god of this divine realm.
Gooooooooh—!
His depleted divine power surged back rapidly. The Moon of the Origin also recognized him as the god of this star and shared its vitality.
But it still wasn’t enough.
Spatial Distortion — Lunar Scale Sphere
Whoosh—! Whiiiiing—!
He warped space into a sphere the size of the moon to gather solar light, positioning his solar wings at the focal point. His wings reacted instantly, blazing like living flames. The Moon’s vitality, drawn in by the spatial distortion, aided his recovery.
Immediate reentry is impossible after all. At this rate it will still take more than a day.
Even with the Moon and Sun of the Origin, he was in a state of total depletion that would normally require over a month of natural recovery.
I’ve shortened a month to a day, but it’s still too slow.
The Main God and Demon God finished pulverizing the exterior of the Substitute God’s protruding super-giant biological armor and plunged into the Great Cavity. His Combat Foresight’s sense of danger continued to spike.
The divine power inside the planet’s cavity was rising with terrifying intensity.
Damn it—! It really is planning to emerge in its true form. I pushed too hard!
Kwaaaaaang—!
A massive roar of divine power erupted from the Great Cavity, and the God Destruction Cannon fired at full power.
“Graaaaagh—!”
“Ughhh—!”
The screams of the Main God of the Divine Realm and the groans of the Demon God, both struck directly by the cannon, reached him as the pair was blasted out into space. They had been unable to withstand the Substitute God Lord’s God Destruction Cannon that had used the entire interior of the Great Cavity as its barrel.
At a glance they appear to have taken catastrophic damage—parts of their full-body armor have shattered.
Regeneration surged through their bodies to resist annihilation. Enormous amounts of divine power were pouring into the Main God from the divine realm, yet his wounds refused to fully heal and the hand gripping his sword still trembled.
Crack—! Crunch—!
In the end, the Main God’s left arm could not endure the direct hit from God Destruction and disintegrated into dust.
He’s lost a body part. Regeneration will require tremendous time and vitality.
The Main God glanced briefly at the stump where his left arm had been, then sliced off the area near his armpit where the annihilation was spreading with a swift sword cut.
Slash—! Whoooosh—!
The severed arm seemed to produce a brief clash between the forces of annihilation and divine power before vanishing completely. Shining divine blood scattered across space, but he recovered it effortlessly and stanched the wound with practiced movements.
The Demon God’s condition was better than the Main God’s, yet her full-body armor had been completely destroyed, revealing the demon clan’s characteristic vital-point armor that covered only the most critical areas.
Her body was exposed with only the barest minimum covered by that vital-point armor—an alluring figure that could make one forget the war for a moment. But the look on the Demon God’s face sent chills racing down the spine.
Even her helmet had disintegrated, revealing her peerlessly beautiful bare face. All emotion had vanished from it.
She looks intact on the surface, but she’s taken a devastating blow. There’s no leisure or smile left.
The thirteen pairs of jewel-like horns beside her ears had lengthened completely, wrapping around her head like an emperor’s crown and radiating light. Her thirteen pairs of dark wings now drank in the surrounding light like an abyss.
After charging confidently into the Great Cavity only to have the armor that proved her status as the Demon King’s successor destroyed, her eyes had clearly rolled with fury.
At this rate there is no chance of victory.
When he hastily measured their power, the Main God possessed fifteen billion in divine power and the Demon God held seventeen billion.
Fifty billion was lost to that final God Destruction Cannon just now!
Uuuuuuung! Kiiiiiiing!
The Substitute God’s biological armor inside the Great Cavity rapidly disassembled as divine power began to condense. It had chosen to abandon even the planet’s nucleus that sustained its life, sacrificing its existence for revenge against the clan member he had killed and for the pride and survival of the Substitute Clan.
After recovering the biological armor, its estimated divine power now exceeded twenty billion.
Even after my Deathblow of the Gigantes God Lord dealt critical damage to its divinity and authorities, it can still reach that level? This is impossible!
Merely being a highest-ranking Substitute God granted it over twenty billion in innate divine power. Had his attack not canceled the past, the figure would have approached four hundred billion.
His head shook at the terrifying divine power of the Substitute Gods, who nearly sealed their reason and existed solely for combat.
Dimensional and War God. Can you still fight?