A Twilight ascetic wrapped head to toe in White Tier bandages stepped forward, knelt on one knee, and was gently helped up by the smiling Elfido. "I have just received an oracle from the Great True God. He has acknowledged our past devotion."
"Now He requires us to further prove our sincerity. Within five minutes, gather more than thirty qualified the Lord holders for sacrifice, along with offerings equivalent to twenty thousand people, and proceed to the underground chamber." "Yes."
The ascetic answered with reverent fervor, already considering the finer details of suitable offerings. That promising member of the Paladins from earlier would do nicely. How enviable, to be rewarded at such a young age and be worthy of serving the True God in heaven.
As Elfido walked slowly into the underground chamber, his situation was far less carefree than years ago. Ever since he had been nearly killed back then by some Dragon empowered with a Holy Sword, he had been forced to make a painful deal just to survive. The partner was obviously Abyss, and with one of his two remaining Divine Kingdom taken away, all that remained to trade was his Twilight.
Though it later circled back into his hands so he could keep working, he had signed a pile of harsh, unequal contracts. With all the restrictions, even using that power now caused agony and damage to his soul. Still, this favor had to be done, not only because of the present crisis, but because its symbolism could shake the coming ascension ritual.
"Again, it is you, Dawn!" He ground out the name, swinging the radiant Scepter in his hand, then crushing its surface into a Shard to reveal the core of bones and black sludge. The sun dimmed for an instant, and a fading solar shadow rose behind him as the stolen brilliance drained away at an alarming speed.
In the dark underground chamber, only Elfido retained a trace of light. As sacrifices fell one by one, a power at the conceptual level was pried loose through this act. Specks of Dusk-dark sunlight crept out like tendrils, dimming all other light they touched, and gathered into a flowing stream as Elfido's face grew paler.
The stream flowed along the sun and poured into the battlefield of light and shadow. All beings with souls and awareness felt a brief Dusk drowsiness, their movements slipping toward Stagnation, though with time already halted, none truly noticed. In contrast, the golden branches swayed as if feeding, flickering faintly, while the vast stream itself seeped into the hazy spatial layers.
The already fragile barrier became even softer and clearer. The polluted flow built a bridge, allowing deep darkness and bloodlight to spread inward. As a result, the ecological domain that barely held at a kilometer suddenly doubled under pressure, and the three massive shadows of will grew clearer, denser, and stronger.
A deep roar followed as the three battered shadows launched a counterattack. Darkness swept the sky again, swallowing the light and forming a whirling black firmament. Belial slammed down another heavy blow, sparks flying as he smashed their combined attack into a Shard, but this time his hand went numb.
He frowned, sensing something wrong, and his expression turned strange as he looked at the three Crimson God figures who clearly thought they were back in control. "Did you secretly slap a debuff on me. No, it feels different. Your bandwidth got wider, so who is backing you as a hidden support."
Belial felt a Holy Light outside his domain pouring down from above, acting as a traitor. It loaded his body with layers of negative effects while strengthening the others, even interfering with his faith intake. With the balance shifting, he realized that relying only on part of the Thousand-Year Dragon King's power, this bit of faith, and his own proficiency was not enough to smash all three outright.
Even so, he was not worried, and even felt like laughing. All they had done was send more of their power over by confusing the Laws around them and weakening the World's barrier. Mixed in were resentful souls from Abyss, Dark Power, and overlapping projections of three Divine Kingdom, creating the current situation.
It did look unfavorable for Belial. But had they considered one thing. Why would he go to such trouble, even borrowing someone else's account, instead of just dropping a Clone and crushing everything directly.
Another violent collision erupted. Belial was blasted far away and slammed into the ground, but the moment he landed, he rolled and sprang back to his feet with sharp movement. In front of the three Evil God projections who thought victory was certain, he pulled out another object from his chest, a plain black book.
This book was different now. Thick black smoke seeped from its surface, mixed with flickers of red Blink. The three projections froze for a moment, sensing something deeply ominous, along with a familiar hint of Crimson Soul.
Before they could think further, an opposite kind of shadow spread rapidly behind Alba. It was not radiant light, but a depth that could devour darkness itself. The book's cover trembled as four crimson Rift were Rend open, black smoke pouring out and condensing into a shadow nearly twice a man's height, still expanding at speed.
Then, before the three Crimson God projections understood what was happening, a single heavy punch struck them squarely in the face. Space shattered into a Shard, forming a massive black Rift above the cathedral, and the surrounding Divine Kingdom projections were smashed into fragments, leaving nothing behind. The spreading plants kept their golden glow only at the edges, while the rest faded, revealing a clear, crystalline blue core beneath.
Black smoke wrapped around Alba as thick darkness kept spreading from her body, and she floated in midair while the pitch-black book circled her. In the end, something completely separated from her body, forming a full figure made purely of black smoke. It became a Great Dragon with four blood-red Rift eyes torn open by Rend, and its mouth slowly split wider.
"Ah…"
Belial let out a breath, and the smoke that spread out shattered the space inside the Rift again, smashing it apart and casually slapping away the three projections that had been flung out earlier. He squeezed his claws and beat his wings once, testing the feeling. "Using my own account still feels better. Though this is still a side account, not my true body."
"But that is fine!"
With a leap, the Lord moved and flew straight into that Rift, once againProficiently making his way to the Outer Void. Following the lingering traces left by the three consciousnesses, he leapt again, guided by instinct, and returned to the familiar Abyssal Void Beyond the World. He had fought so hard earlier because he could not use his real account. With the Mark of Finality on him, using it would get him tagged as a Red Name by the World and kicked out immediately.
Staying outside avoided that problem, and unfortunately for everyone else, those three had indeed confused the World Laws in that region, allowing them to deliver more power. In return, Belial's own Red Name judgment there had also become chaotic. That meant he could finally log in properly and return to his familiar power-leveling style.
This time, with the added support of g-particle abilities, he could directly create self-sustaining Clone bodies in the outside world. He no longer needed to rely on the host the Lord's main body to act. After flying around a bit to get used to it, he started thinking about settling old scores. Then another thought came up, if he personally went to deal with them, who would clean up the remaining mess afterward?
After a brief moment of thought, he spoke. "Then I will hand it back to the original account the Lord. It is just ringing a bell anyway. That is easy."
Considering how fragile the original account the Lord was, and to avoid it getting burned to death by leftover damage that barely counted as area damage, Belial hurriedly shook awake his two Pals. He had them come over to escort things, just to make sure the bell got hit once with the hammer. "I only gave two Shard shards in terms of raw strength, but I installed some extra stuff. An occasional burst should still be possible, so it should be fine."
Thinking this, Belial felt at ease and flew forward. His gaze turned sharp as he slowly began charging power, and blue light like Lightning Magic surged beneath his black-smoke body. The spines on his back flared brightly, and a long-unseen Spiral Heat Ray blasted out, becoming a blue beam that swept across everything. With his power raised, this was already close to a strike from his pre-evolution true body.
As for the three projections that had not yet returned to their true bodies, they vanished with a snap. "One shot, done. No, wait, that made you angry already?"
After feeling parts of their existence permanently erased, the three Crimson God were enraged. Each of them opened their own Divine Kingdom and charged in without mercy. Standing within the Void, they shone like three blazing stars, and furious roars spread outward to announce their wrath. If they could not win on the surface of the World, then surely they could crush him in the Abyss the Lord's home field.