A Human Challenges a God

The human who fights gods.

Most users looked momentarily confused before their expressions twisted in shock.

That was when it happened.

The community chat exploded with renewed heat at the mention of an authority that had spread across the entire world.

The system answered that question in their stead.

The community boiled like a furnace. With everyone's attention focused on the upcoming subjugation of Ascartlop that was still months away, the time had been far too idle and boring. This anomaly was more than enough to set the users ablaze with excitement.

And then, the Sea God's Cave.

Merely three minutes before all sorts of reactions flooded the community.

The Sword Emperor Coalition and Revelation fighting in the distance of the Sea God's Cave, along with Kaits and the other judges and their party, also tasted a fragment of that power.

The first thing that changed was the weakening or strengthening of stats.

After the users of Revelation and the Sword Emperor Coalition quickly checked each other's specs without panicking, they realized their stats hadn't been changed to completely identical values.

However... they had been adjusted to 'stats worth fighting with'.

And stats they had never known about until now had appeared.

Perhaps the stats that their opponents possessed.

The most unique stat was...

The users trembled at the omnipotence or emptiness they were feeling for the first time.

Reina was no exception.

Her body, which had been stronger than anyone else's, had greatly weakened, and the same was true for Kaits.

Even powerhouses like Mullin were no different.

Kaits didn't know much about Equality... but there was one thing he did know.

'This is supposed to be equality?'

This wasn't equality.

It was tyranny, domination, and suppression.

To make the gap created by countless efforts and talents as if it never existed.

It wasn't that physical abilities had become fair.

Instead, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠all authorities, skills, and... even Privileges had been completely sealed.

It meant to fight using only pure technique, raw strength, and knowledge—powers one had personally acquired without relying on the system.

Furthermore...

"Huh..."

"When did we...!"

The Revelation members who had been positioned on high ground preparing or launching bombardments had all been moved to the ground.

Even advantageous positions secured in advance had been nullified.

And that wasn't all.

All the wounds they had sustained until now had been completely regenerated.

Most chilling of all was...

'...The gap in 'Stages' has disappeared?!'

'Stage'

Kaits, who knew more about it than anyone and had despaired over it more than anyone, couldn't help but feel chills.

It was an authority on a completely different level from simply granting divine power to allow one to fight against high-ranking beings.

'This is the authority of Equality...!!'

The power of All-Nist, the highest-ranking deity on equal footing with Nanar despite having no followers, unlike Nanar who possessed followers worldwide.

The man who had lived thousands of lives was frozen in shock at the revolutionary, almost transcendent authority of the highest-ranking deity he had dismissed as mere grapes.

Leor was also breaking out in a cold sweat from the sense of futility.

If it weren't for the artifact left by his ancestor that he was currently wearing, he might have fallen to his knees.

This feeling of powerlessness wasn't just from the stat changes like the others—it was because the barrier he had deployed had instantly vanished.

'Is this what 'he' was wary of...!'

To think that a mere human... a man who had only been in Elyunar for three months was hiding such a trump card.

Leor felt a chill run down his spine as he thought of Dre.

He recalled that Gald, the head of the Harte family, had warned him that Dre was someone he shouldn't touch.

He had never ignored Gald, but he had thought his warning was wrong this time.

That was how much he trusted his own abilities and insight.

And for the first time, Leor wondered if he might have been wrong.

'...No, there is a deity over there.'

Equality?

Even so, could a human possibly defeat a god?

'Even if things go terribly wrong... even if, by some one-in-a-million or one-in-a-hundred-million chance, Poseid loses... 'that' is still there.'

But Leor couldn't erase the anxiety that was slowly creeping up from deep within his chest.

In the moment everyone was stunned.

Kaits found himself unconsciously looking toward the distant direction where Dre would be.

And in the area where that Dre was.

"Aah! Aah... ah?"

"M-my arm...! It's regenerated?!"

The preliminary round participants who had been screaming in despair at their severed limbs, along with the hero party, Almiraj, Meiyal and others, rose to their feet.

All their wounds had been cleanly healed.

So perfectly that it was as if they had never existed.

Not only that, but Poseid's creations in the distance were floating helplessly, unable to control their bodies.

Only Emily and Rena, who had fainted, hadn't gotten up, but their strength and wounds had also been perfectly restored.

The most surprising thing was the beast.

The monster that had spewed terrifying flames was once again trapped inside the crystal.

An incomprehensible phenomenon.

But the people blankly thought of the word 'divine miracle'.

"You foolish thing..."

What brought them to their senses was Poseid's voice.

Everyone tensed and looked toward him.

"To think that a mere authority granted by a deity to a creation... would work on another deity...!"

Everyone was at a loss for words.

Because Poseid's body had visibly shrunk.

If he had looked like a benevolent giant before, now he was nothing more than a slightly larger human.

The power emanating from his body was still immense... but the mental pollution that had been maddening just from looking at him no longer occurred.

".....Kuh, urgh?!"

"It seems to be working, Poseid."

At Dre's sneer while raising his middle finger with his regenerated arm, Poseid ground his teeth.

'Don't make me laugh!'

Though he was a highest-ranking deity, he was still a deity.

Poseid was also a high-ranking deity.

'There's only one rank difference...'

Yet the authority of Equality had transformed Poseid into a perfectly 'equal state'.

Poseid sensed that a considerable number of authorities he could use had been sealed.

That damn bastard.

The one who participated in this race with a perpetually bored expression, arrogantly resting his chin and looking down at the ground as if uninterested.

Unlike other deities, he didn't leave traces in the mortal realm to gain causality, nor did he approach promising users.

Yet he was treated as equal to Nanar... that highest-ranking deity with unfathomable depths!

That highest-ranking deity, the God of Equality All-Nist, laughed as if amused.

At the intrigued tone, the other deities erupted into chaos.