Chapter 205
Chapter 205
Chapter 205
Pantheon(3)
"Naturally, that terminal by your side wouldn't know of my existence. That's how it's been set up."
The things coming out of his mouth were bait too significant to ignore.
The fact that Mars knew the exact name of the Heavenly Magic Dragon battleship, and that Mars' notorious flagship Helios from the original work was made by the same creator as the Heavenly Magic Dragon battleship—both were major plot hooks.
"How about it? Quite tempting, isn't it?"
"What nonsense are you spouting?"
"I'm asking if you won't join hands with us."
"......"
"If it were me, I could tell you the secret histories of the mythological era. The greatest secrets from before Genesis that merely mentioning them would trigger causality restrictions."
"Hmm...."
Rudian, who had briefly trailed off, tilted his head slightly and asked the guy.
"Your purpose is naturally just one thing, right?"
"Of course."
Just as in the original work, it naturally couldn't change even now.
Uncontainable desire surged in Mars's expression.
"Taking Berus's position—for that one thing alone, I've endured years of humiliation for a long time."
The years he had endured until now would be at least several hundred thousand years.
One who dreams of becoming the God of Light beyond the Sun God.
That was exactly what Mars was—the being who pulled the trigger of the Mythological War.
Mars's gleaming eyes stared directly at Rudian.
"You would know this."
"The Day of Great Liberation, the one who will personally open the Age of Destruction... is Berus himself."
"...Ho?"
Even if one possessed prophetic abilities, it would be impossible to know such a thing, but those words were correct.
However, in the original work, Berus hadn't done such a thing with malicious intent.
He had simply been pushed by the overwhelming momentum that burst forth like a dam breaking and 'had no choice' but to open the Age of Destruction.
'Though whether it was really unavoidable or not isn't certain.'
Before his inner thoughts could be described, Berus was futilely devoured by the Avatar of Destruction.
"If I can reclaim the hierarchy of the Sun God and eliminate Berus, there's no need to open the Day of Great Liberation. I can seize control of the heavenly realm with my own power."
Mars was an absolute god who had competed on equal terms with Berus in Genesis.
Even the current Seven Great Gods, if Mars recovered the hierarchy of the Sun God, they would be absolutely no match for him one-on-one.
"If that happens, the humans you're trying to protect will be utterly safe."
"......"
"How about it? Isn't it tempting?"
Rudian didn't answer immediately.
Certainly, it wasn't a proposal without any possibility.
Mars was originally a member of the heavenly realm, and if he could just reclaim that position, there would be no need to tiringly wage war against the entire heavenly realm.
If Rudian gave his full support, reclaiming the hierarchy of the Sun God would be quite easy.
But....
"Well? From what I see...."
A sneer formed on Rudian's lips.
"......?"
"Even if we form an alliance, you only look like someone who would stab me in the back and steal the Seven-Colored World?"
"What?"
"If that's the case, I'd rather accept Krakar and Ktuna's proposal. Those guys would be more trustworthy."
The reason he refused an alliance with them to the very end, despite knowing Mars's potential, was precisely because of Pantheon itself's trustworthiness.
"A guy who would clam up tight after getting everything he wants—where does he get off running his mouth?"
"......"
Mars's expression became blank.
But Rudian had grounds for saying this.
In Chapter 4 of the original work, Pantheon had been an ally of the protagonist Abel's party.
When the blood witch Rebecca couldn't overcome her own blood and self-destruct, and when Sword Saint Crux was defeated by Diablo, Abel's party faced a significant power vacuum.
In that situation, it was Pantheon and Mars who approached Abel, and Mars, who had acted like he would be a reliable ally, betrayed them like discarded shoes as soon as he got everything he wanted from Abel.
"I'd be less than human if I trusted you guys. Dogs, that's what you are."
—Kahahaha! Right on, kid!
Diablo burst into mad laughter, agreeing with Rudian's words.
"You, you thunder-struck bastard...!"
"Of course, I'm dying of curiosity about the plot hooks you're hiding, but honestly, forming an alliance just to learn that one thing is absurd and...."
Rudian pointed Diablo's sword body at Mars and declared.
"Come at me. I have no intention of wasting time on the likes of you."
"...You'll regret this."
Mars' divine form slowly began to fade.
—The entity Mars is moving upward.
"Did he move to his flagship Helios? What a rat-like bastard."
He had been talking with the momentum to fight a life-and-death battle with full power.
—Master, if the enemy attacks from outside the atmosphere, it won't be easy to respond. What will you do?
"What an annoying guy. If he rains down bombardment like that, his own comrades fighting here will get swept up... No, he probably never considered them comrades to begin with."
I had been thinking of fighting with swords, but if the opponent comes out like this, it's only proper to respond accordingly.
If Helios is a battleship on the same level as the Heavenly Magic Dragon battleship, then Mars' judgment to face it with maximum power isn't bad.
But....
"I'll make you regret daring to challenge me to an item battle."
—Shall we deploy Elysion?
Even though Elli and the constructs had begun work on the lunar base, if the enemy is in space, it becomes easier to deploy them.
"In addition to that."
Since it had come to this, Rudian had no intention of handling things carelessly.
"Open Eldorado's treasury and activate Dilmun as well. Let's conduct that mock battle against outer space we planned before using this guy as the opponent."
The plan to utilize Adi's terminals to their maximum capacity.
Previously it had been just a simple simulation, but before engaging in earnest combat with outer space, this was the perfect opponent to test it on.
—Are you sure about this? If you make such a flashy scene, the heavenly realm will definitely notice, won't they?
"They'll notice anyway once the war starts."
Besides, it's not power that can be hidden forever.
"If it's dealing with Mars, the heavenly realm will probably turn a blind eye. Or well, I could just pressure Ruura a bit."
If Ruura had heard this, she would have coughed up blood saying 'How long are you going to milk me, you damn robber!', but that's not our concern....
"What I'm worried about is him running away without fighting."
—...Surely not?
"He knows your identity and he knows roughly what my capabilities are. That means he can assess our current strength to any degree, which means he can definitely avoid a decisive battle."
He's a guy who has been waiting for an opportunity for hundreds of thousands of years.
No matter how imposing he appears, whether that's his true intention isn't certain.
"So let's catch him for sure before he runs away. If we miss him here, he'll leave a tremendous grudge."
—Yes, Master!
Adi answered vigorously.
***
"Welcome, Lord Mars."
The servant races managing the flagship Helios politely greeted Mars.
"What about the others?"
"Prepare for retreat."
"...Pardon?"
The servant races tilted their heads in confusion at Mars suddenly mentioning retreat.
"Where to... do you mean?"
Protest or insubordination was impossible for them.
They were just puzzled.
"For now... to the outer planetary system. If it's a place crawling with outer space beings, those guys won't bother coming after us."
"What about the others?"
"Those guys need to hold back the intruders. You just shut up and follow my orders."
"Ah, understood, Lord Mars."
Mars sat in the center of the bridge, watching the servant races busily operating equipment, and muttered.
"...Damn it."
He never imagined they would launch a surprise attack like this.
Especially how they had discovered the terrestrial stronghold that even the heavenly realm didn't know about was still a mystery.
'I almost wasted all my efforts.'
If they fought within the terrestrial domain he had worked on for so long, he could put up a decent fight.
But the reason Mars decided to flee... no, retreat so quickly was because of the presence of Baal who had come with Rudian.
'Could it be that they came targeting that?'
Though Baal had backstabbed Mars in the past, conversely, Mars hadn't just taken it lying down either.
Mars' counterattack had dealt considerable damage to Bel, the God of Storms, ultimately causing him to cling to the Demon God and fall to become Baal, the first Demon King.
In that process, the Genesis relic was stolen from Baal and Mars' greatest trump card.
'He definitely came targeting that.'
If that were stolen even by the slightest chance, Mars would lose all opportunities for recovery and fall to ruin.
'I absolutely cannot let it be stolen!'
Even if he had to endure this humiliating retreat, if he could somehow survive until the Day of Great Liberation, there would be an opportunity.
An opportunity....
"G-God."
"Lord Mars!"
"......!"
Just as Helios was charging its power to cross space, Mars and the servant races witnessed that sight.
"Annihilating the enemy."
"Annihilating the enemy."
"Annihilating the enemy."
.......
The Elysion constructs surrounding the asteroid field where Helios was hiding in outer space.
Mars gritted his teeth.
"Exploration-type artificial intelligence, Elysion. I wondered where you had hidden it, and here you were setting up a trap like this."
...To be precise, it wasn't a trap set to catch Mars but rather deployed by chance with the right timing, but Mars had no way of knowing that....
"Don't worry. Unless they're hive mind entities, their basic armaments absolutely cannot penetrate Helios's armor...."
Mars, remembering the specs of Elysion he had seen before Genesis, tried to confidently dismiss this crisis, but....
"...What the hell is that?"
In the hands of the Elysion constructs, where Starlight Blasters should have been equipped, were weapons boasting completely different individual characteristics.
"Initiating space blockade."
"Initiating divine neutralization."
"Unlocking Level 5 anti-divine weapons."
"Eldorado, weapon unlock."
"Pashupatastra."
"Brahmastra."
"Glorious Golden Demon God Machine, activating."
"Excalibur, activating."
"Nine Dragon Divine FireBird, activating."
The weapons the Elysion constructs could use weren't limited to those in the lunar armory.
Countless weapons sleeping in Eldorado, the collection-type artificial intelligence and golden city, began to display their true worth in the hands of the Elysion constructs with power assistance from the Seven-Colored World.
"Ha, haha...."
Various destructive powers were felt from all directions.
Mars nearly lost his mind to the massive waves of power that even Helios couldn't handle.
And in addition....
CRACKLE!
The black battleship that appeared by tearing through space—the Heavenly Magic Dragon battleship—appeared before Helios' eyes, and Mars' shock reached its peak.
—Where do you think you're going?
"...You, you bastard!"
At the sight of Rudian appearing on the screen, Mars couldn't hide his rage.
Rudian slowly interlaced his fingers and struck a dignified pose like a certain commander.
—Hand it over quietly.
"......!"
—The 'Primordial Fragment' that Baal had been keeping after sealing the Avatar of Destruction from the previous era—you have it, don't you?
The core keyword of Chapter 4 and the shortcut to the ending.
When I first realized that Baal was targeting something, I thought hard about what it could be, but no matter how much I thought about it, this was the only answer.
"H-how did you...?"
—If you hand it over quietly, there won't be any bloodshed.
A wicked smile formed on Rudian's face.