Chapter 155
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 155
Chapter Title: 15th Floor - Lv. 3211 War Incarnate (2)
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In game times, gods descending as incarnations was treated as a kind of buff.
The problem was that control became impossible. Because of that, serving a weak god could turn the buff into a debuff.
After it became a game, things got a bit easier.
In any case, the stats of the [Incarnation] buff itself are tremendous. So much so that it's even better than dragon blood.
The cost is faith offered from the believers' side, and accumulated faith from the god's side.
But the Great Warrior, who serves as the god's proxy warrior, is exempt from the cost.
It's a position the god designates for convenient use in the first place, so that's only natural.
Of course, it consumes quite a lot of faith from the god's perspective. At a glance, the scale seems large, but for our Church of Chaos—which was born not long ago—this incarnation represents a pretty significant hemorrhage.
The fortunate part is that the Throne of Chaos has no authority useful for combat anyway.
Isn't that nice?
No additional faith consumption.
Meanwhile, the declaration of war hurled by the God of War crossed cosmic space with ferocious momentum, overtaking even the Dragon King leading the dragons.
Bullet hell ends here.
First, check the degree of doping.
Last incarnation was too brief to verify.
Confirm that all physical stats easily surpass 1000, then close the Mind Map.
Lacking sufficient stats to wield massive mana, I've already burned through an enormous amount of blood repairing the body.
Sitting on the jade throne, I absorb every last drop of remaining blood to the max.
What's left transforms into summons aligned with my will.
Even summons infused with the Unique Skill [Blood Lord] won't provide much help.
But leaving them be would just have the God of War vaporize them first anyway.
The burning crystal of divinity finally reaches me.
Sylphid snatches the incoming sphere in its mouth.
A powerful shock ripples outward.
Only after consumption severe enough to blur the Spirit King's manifested presence does the sphere halt.
This is kinda ridiculous.
I break free from the blood jade throne and plunge into cosmic space. Sylphid presents the sphere to me.
The highly compressed metal, tempered with divinity, has become a material far beyond the ordinary.
Extending chaos's purple glow, I reshape the iron forged in war.
It takes on a plausible spear form.
‘This is good, huh? A spear infused with the divinity of war and chaos.’
「Smells like troll. Dirty.」
As I tweak the details a bit, Sylphid swoops in and seals it with a high-pressure spray of the drifting gases.
Perfect. Really perfect. Just soaking up all that divinity makes it decent enough as a temporary weapon.
From the distance, the Incarnation of War charges in as well.
Running across empty space as if solid ground exists below—it must possess [Space Walk].
A skill for moving as though earth lies where none does. Opting for it suggests a strength-based warrior.
Troll, so that's par for the course.
With the danmaku at a halt, I head toward the dragons, now ragged and frozen in place.
Sadly, no taming or recruiting here.
Dragons aren't the type to submit to outsiders.
The Dragon King hastily unleashes [Dragon's Breath]. From its dragon heart—brimming with near-infinite mana—enormous lightning erupts.
Facing the electric breath head-on, I raise my spear.
Time to test the incarnation's performance.
Can't recklessly deploy most main skills, so only passives tied to Unique Skills.
The [Song of Oblivion] born from the goddess's descent upon me stirs.
Like [Crimson Beast of the End] from Blood Lord, it's a skill transmitted through contact when triggering a main active.
The instant lightning kisses the spear tip, the passive begins decomposing it into mana upon direct weapon contact.
To guide it further, I spin the spear.
A feat demanding both warrior prowess and magical finesse.
Such a potent 'breath' outpaces even the passive's decomposition rate.
I twist my body wide for [Planetary Strike].
The physical impact whips the lightning bolt entirely.
Watching its own breath battered and bent by the spear, the Dragon King's eyes glaze over distant.
Using the virtual core trick, I wrap the dragon's breath around myself. It spirals, steadily breaking down into pure mana.
I coil it around the spear and hurl.
[Longinus's Spear], governing penetration, applies its correction.
The Dragon King frantically weaves hundreds of mana barriers, teleports, and twists its body to evade—but too late.
The spear impales it in a flash.
Its scales prove nearly meaningless against [Monster Hunt]'s bonus attack power.
Eyes refusing to accept its death.
Not my problem.
「Ooh, better than I thought?」
‘Truth is, as a warrior, I've used greatswords way more than spears. Easier to swing without missing, so you end up favoring high-attack stuff.’
「Talk's cheap.」
‘When I say warrior, roughly picture a magic swordsman.’
「Sword Master?」
‘They say greatsword Sword Masters are insanely strong?」
「Crazy fucker.」
With stats and passive buffs so stacked, it feels great.
Magic? I can weave it myself anyway. I warp through space, teleporting right before the Dragon King.
The dragon heart throbs. Refine it into a gem, but raw, it's a real heart.
Quick—craft a weapon first. Dragon scales, fangs, dragon heart: all prime materials.
No [Anvil] handy is a shame, but I improvise, refining the spear into something more legit.
Not just form—it's becoming a genuinely solid weapon.
「You blacksmith too?」
‘In this joint, whether you can procure weapons on-site is make-or-break.’
「Most bring an artisan along—not bother learning it...」
The Incarnation of War closes in. The dragons, bereft of their king, stare blankly our way.
A few sharp ones hastily pull back.
In a brawl where throne-reaching pinnacle Exiles run wild, dragons are just hack 'n' slash champion monsters.
Sylphid flies forth at my command. Buy just a little more time, daughter dear.
The fiercely advancing gaseous planet's atmosphere compresses, barricading the Incarnation of War's path.
The troll brute-forces through, smashes it apart, and barrels on.
What a cosmic spectacle.
I pull out a vial to collect the Dragon King's blood. Young dragon, so not super potent, but this race-bonus game guarantees solid doping.
A blood source I never tapped as a vampire.
The blood diffuses, shifting to a thick, blazing crimson. It's literally aflame. Dragon blood doping's always like that.
Drink some, splash the rest.
Undead normally can't dope, but as an incarnation [Divine Body], I'm no longer undead.
Holy undead were born for reasons just like this.
Quick stat check.
Intelligence hovers just shy of 2000, but strength hits 3000, agility clears 4000.
Roughly discern the goddess's stat spread.
Now we're talking.
Bursting through Sylphid's onslaught, the Incarnation of War charges.
Prep just wrapped up.
I recall Sylphid and thrust my spear; War thrusts its fist.
The instant the attacks collide, an immaterial shockwave rends the cosmos.
To the current Empire's Emperor, this future empire wasn't all that crucial. He'd alter the past to reshape this future anyway.
[Prophecy] pinpointed the Exiles' locations.
Kill them here and now, and they won't sprout up disrupting the Empire throughout history.
Great Altaire the Conqueror's end wouldn't turn so pathetic.
And he'd escape this timeline via divine favor.
The Empire was doomed regardless. He'd been a mere figurehead—already an ogre nation.
No ruler clings to a land that isn't theirs.
The chains on his dual swords whir. Forged from the previous Dragon King's corpse long ago.
Each blade a slice of ancient dragon bone.
Powered by that ancient dragon heart as energy core.
The Empire's Emperor needn't wrangle unwanted mana.
The weapons handled that.
Strength—pure, overwhelming strength!
The raw physical might to smash down his blade and cleave foes in half!
That's what mattered most for an orc ascending to emperor.
The bypassed assault ships swarm toward the federation fleet.
Not a soul cares that the main giant ships lie in ruins.
Greenskins locked in battle ignore all but the enemy right in front of them.
The Emperor's assault ship punches through federation fire, piercing the target vessel's armor.
The hatch hisses open.
The Emperor's saw begins to spin.
After the cosmos-shredding shockwave fades, the Incarnation of War senses something off.
Head-on clash? Victory.
Shockingly compliant about meeting straight-on—surprising, really.
That puny mage frame can't fully channel the goddess's power he idolizes.
So why no satisfying impact?
The colossal physical jolt ripples space for an instant.
Something connected.
Right at this fist's tip.
Yet next instant, the Incarnation of Chaos appears utterly unfazed beside him, swinging its spear.
Sensing the myriad skill essences at the spear's edge, the God of War rallies his power once more.
High-rankers and above rarely boast just one Unique Skill.
Though dismissed as luck, rules ensure you draw something fitting your path from the Mind Map.
Yet the reincarnated god wielded only a single Unique Skill.
[Primal Strength].
Its sole buff: raw power.
Overwhelming might no stack of miscellaneous passives could ever rival.
Bestowed on a human, it'd enable arm-wrestling giants.
His clenched fist grips with force enough to forge diamonds from coal through sheer pressure.
A punch rivaling any weapon lashes out anew.
Overly straightforward jab—but strength equals speed.
Divinity-clad, reinforced flesh delivers freakish physical trauma at impossible velocity.
The foe's spear thrust warps unnaturally. The God of War scowls.
The goddess isn't some warrior toying with spears like that.
Another cosmos-rattling clash.
Still no impact.
What's going on?
「How the hell are you pulling this off?」
‘Most magic skills? You can replicate 'em without the actual skills—just skip the passives.’
「Even so, whipping up [Time Stop] like it's nothing? Double-cast, no less.」
‘Multi-casting's basic for frontline battle mages.’
「I've seen Meteor in one hand, Blizzard in the other...」
‘Opposing elements—tricky. Time and space? Totally compatible. Spacetime's the same magic lineage, really.’
The Goddess of Chaos quits trying to follow.
Even granting simultaneous [Banish] and [Time Stop], using it as mere melee support? Unthinkable.
‘Magic's true essence is utility. Push it to the absolute limit, and yeah—firepower caps out. That's magic.’
「Fine, I have no clue what you're on about anymore. All gamers this nuts?」
‘Provence'd say something similar. Pure magic nut, so maybe tweaks it... explains his ranking.’
The goddess shakes her head and invokes her authority.
The Throne of Chaos offers no direct combat intervention.
No basic buffs—that's chaos for you.
Just aids growth and lends a hand escaping crises.
Not a hot pick for paths, then.
But damn effective for her Great Warrior's current cheese strat.
Flinging wide the abyss-exit gate via authority, the goddess smacks her lips.
Man, really should've partied with this guy back when she was an Exile. Sucks being throne-bound now.
‘Ahh, high stats after ages—casting magic feels so smooth.’
「You ever try Magic God?」
‘Sat that throne once before.’
Yup.
The goddess just nods.
The God of Nature—a mage who'd claimed a throne—saw right through the trick.
Not all that shocked.
Easier to straight-cast [Time Stop] than fabricate a virtual core amid crashing force torrents.
Impact moment: banish yourself to the [Abyss].
Then patch the abyss's warped timeflow with time stop.
Logic: if not even 0.1 seconds ticks in the abyss, nothing twists.
Sounds good on paper—who knows if it works.
Authority-escape drops you right back at that exact instant spot.
To the foe, the clearly-hit guy emerges untouched.
Timing's everything. Nail the impact split-second. Banish without missing it.
Arm might pulp, but abyss-time's halted—plenty of leeway to patch up.
Rematerialize: opponent perceives zilch.
Incarnation-tier? Sure, reacts to time shenanigans somehow.
But other dimension hop, time-freeze pit stop, return? Counterplays fail.
Hell, perceiving it? Tall order.
God of Nature just pieced it from connection flickering on-off repeatedly.
Doable in theory—actually pulling it off? Jury's out.
Creative as hell.
Tease the Magic God later.
Magic nerd prioritizes research over faction growth.
Loves this flavor of spellcasting.
Missing this scene right now, bet.
Tsk tsk. Prime entertainment.
Incarnations can't hold long.
Throne-reached Exile power's brutally potent; no NPC flesh, no matter how honed, contains it fully.
The God of War—never eyed magic in life, loathed it as chicanery—grasps none of this.
Just clocks some space-magic force nullifying the physical hits.
And damage subtly piling on his own incarnation frame.
A bout winnable in one shot.
Assume physical immunity.
But [Primal Strength] is pure physical assault.
The God of War bellows.
"Come forth! [Ragnarok]!"
The weapon named for the gods' twilight beams down from its throne.
Goddess scored skill luck, bombed gear luck. Chaos Throne holds no bound armament—she knows.
A massive two-hander hammer materializes. Babel shards woven with Yggdrasil branch.
[Primal Strength]'s active triggers.
Unique active [Primordial Giant] flares.
The troll's hulking frame swells further.
Planet-crushing titan might infuses the body.
"Physical immune" doesn't mean zero phys-through.
Just near-zero.
So even 0.01% penetration? Pack enough oomph to pulp the foe.
This troll's cleaved every enemy that way.
Incorporeal spooks die to hard enough whacks.
Survivors? Whack harder.
Same deal here.
How the nullify works? Irrelevant. No need to know.
Far more pressing:
"Why! Goddess incarnate, yet the vessel's you! Chaos! Bare your true form like before! Let us parley with iron!"
Furious at no glimpse of the Chaos Goddess.
She furrows that lovely brow, shakes her head.
「Got no such weapon... Demands iron parley while wielding non-iron. Nasty piece of work. Deception, right?」
‘Man, yeah. That's prime gear. Bound too—no loot.’
「That bastard's deceived me 976 times. Always waving it, hollering. Look, bragging again. Utter trash.」
‘You remember every one.’
「Pre-godhood, tagged along all "I like you"—kinda cute back then.」
The goddess misses her Great Warrior's odd expression.
He thinks: Cute? A troll? Even possible?
Warriors're all a bit off, huh.
Were she privy, she'd rage: "You wicked mages!"