Very soon, he arrived. The distance to the target was less than a hundred thousand li. It was right in front of him.
He let out a roar of joy and hunger, then flashed forward and swung his blades. The thick black curtain was cut open with ease, its weak protection torn apart, and the meaningless crystal structures were sliced into Shard fragments.
Next, he reached for the deepest part, ready to seize the fresh and tempting Crimson Soul. He thought he could already hear the other side's desperate screams.
"Ahhh!"
The scream came from him. There was nothing inside. Even the sturdy shell made of Nanometal was nothing before the blade of a true Crimson God, and it was split apart at the atomic level, nearly erased.
With the shell destroyed, its function naturally failed, and the soul fluctuation vanished at once. The sudden disappearance drove him into a frenzy, slashing everything around into literal nothingness.
Where was the food? In the middle of his rage, he suddenly realized something, cold sweat bursting out as he turned to flee at once. This was a trap.
The moment he understood, he tried to escape without hesitation. But a fish that had finally been hooked would not be released so easily by Belial.
"As a beginner who is patient enough to fish, you still have to do something before the bite." "I finally waited for you, so don't leave. Take this Red Lotus Dragon as a greeting!"
Hidden far away between layers of crystal, Belial opened his mouth. He had been quietly charging power the whole time after placing the bait, his body glowing red as the temperature surged. Through repeated practice, he now used that heat to enter a burning state, pushing the already terrifying power even higher.
Ring after ring of crimson electric light gathered into a huge circle, shrinking inward. The energy that had been concealed by countless crystal layers finally revealed itself. It was like a supernova bursting in an instant.
Light and heat compressed and then exploded, the electromagnetic rings collapsing into a single point of red-white brilliance. Back then, a charged Red Lotus Dragon strong enough to kill King Ghidorah required long preparation and a burning state, plus taking hits to raise the heat. That was when he was much weaker.
So now, how long did it take to charge an even stronger shot? He did not bother to calculate. One thing was enough to know. This single blast was enough to flatten every monster in its path and leave them dead in the worst way.
"Gah!"
Faced with this overwhelming strike, God of Division hiding in the layered prism maze let out a strange cry. It was not just fear of the attack, but the realization that this person had killed Stagnation and used him as bait. That meant his strength far exceeded that level.
Who was this guy anyway? Why had he never been seen around here before? Questions flooded his mind, but there was no time to think. He had to block this attack first.
He swung both blades, and countless reflections in the prisms mirrored his movement. Each reflection split again and again, growing at a near geometric rate. The concept of division and severing manifested, forming a kaleidoscopic maze glowing green.
His power surged as he forced his Authority to grow, not only to block the strike but to buy time to escape. Otherwise, being trapped between this red monster and his rival would be truly miserable. After all, it looked like just an Electromagnetic Cannon-type attack, and his Authority could even cut molecular bonds.
He was wrong. The roaring Great Dragon of crimson light poured straight into the prism maze, ignoring division, Teleportation, and all other mechanisms. With sheer force, it blew apart a blockbuster-scale maze.
The defenses were not useless, but even after being divided countless times by Rend, the attack still carried power enough to destroy everything. Worse, the concepts caused it to spread through the entire maze. When God of Division swung his blade, the unbearable heat burned it instantly, the edge cracking and melting, and most of his body was swallowed by the raging Great Dragon.
What was this thing? He split off half his body and part of his soul without hesitation, watching the other half vanish. Barely surviving, God of Division stared at the blackened Great Dragon.
Blockbuster-level prism Shard shards fell like glass, and the whole Divine Kingdom shone brightly as a rampaging Red Lotus Dragon released light and heat everywhere. With a single blast, a formidable Crimson God was left heavily wounded, his Divine Kingdom damaged and the injury still spreading.
Even his Authority could not stop it. Before he could think further, Belial activated Black Mist Form and unleashed Ecological Corrosion across the entire prism maze Divine Kingdom.
"Let me see who you are. Ah, this one looks familiar." "Kamacuras, the big mantis."
He thought briefly. This old thing was mostly remembered as skewered in a past war, with little ability beyond stealth. It was simply an oversized animal, memorable only because it appeared in that final battle.
"It's a pity I don't have a good piercing weapon on hand."
Belial shook his head, then gathered himself back into his main body. Entering the burning state, he shot like a flaming meteor straight into the center of the maze. The core was blasted apart as if by a nuclear strike, heat and shockwaves tearing it to pieces.
As soon as he landed, his hand moved by instinct. The blade of God of Division came down with Authority gathered upon it, aiming to cut him in two. Yet the blade was caught barehanded, and under crushing grip and Gravity Manipulation, cracks spread across it.
With another pull, an entire arm was torn off. Belial lashed out with his tail, dragging the fleeing God of Division back and pinning him to the ground with Gravity Manipulation.
"Your brain capacity hasn't improved at all. You're even dumber than the real Kamacuras."
At least that one knew not to fight Godzilla head-on. This one was just reckless. Strong as he was, similar to the earlier Hedorah, Belial was now even stronger than before.
Grinning at the terrified God of Division, he opened his mouth, white-hot light gathering in his throat. It was almost over.
The tide the Lord was advancing with his Divine Kingdom waves when he suddenly stopped. In the distance, something was glowing. It was the burning remains of that divided guy's Divine Kingdom. Realizing the trap, he turned and ran without hesitation.
Then something familiar was thrown in front of him. It was the divided one, mangled and scorched. Panic struck at once.
Behind him, the collapsing prism Divine Kingdom was falling toward him, wrapped in strange crystal vines and blazing with fire. Belial peeked out and laughed. "Oh, now this is familiar. It's you, big seafood."
He saw the red body and two massive claws. It was Ebirah, the most embarrassing monster he could remember. Other monsters at least lost to equals or advanced human weapons, but this one was simply beaten down.
"One Kamacuras, one Ebirah." "Too bad, neither of you is worth much."
Belial shook his head and fired a Fusion Reaction Beam into the vortex. Since he had caught them anyway, he might as well eat them all.
"What do you mean?"
"That is exactly what it means. Since those heretical regions are empty now, it would be better to hand them to us. Just like everyone else does, I will use them to offer sacrifices to our the Lord."
"As before, we will pay the price."
The black-robed figure standing opposite him had no clear shape beneath the robe, perhaps still something human, perhaps not. His hands were clasped in prayer, yet something unseen was being held back, as faint black traces and a strange feeling spread in the air. Even so, he stood calmly, as if this were the most natural place in the world.
This was Daylight Chapel, filled with Holy Light and constantly surrounded by the devout hymns of the Sister Choir. Only figures such as the Pope and the Saintess were permitted to enter this most sacred hall. Under the gaze of three towering statues made entirely of gems and Gold, shaped as the sun, an old man, and a woman, something clearly opposed to Holy Light had appeared openly.
This place lay within Land Blessed by Light, where there was never night, and where the filth of the Abyss would be burned away the moment it entered. Yet here stood a being that was very likely one of the Abyss Cultists, and it seemed completely unharmed. Even more unbelievable was that the Paladins, Ascetics, Monks, and Nuns patrolling outside had noticed nothing, separated by only a single door.
Most incredible of all was the one speaking with him. It was the Pope who held the highest Authority at Gold Rank, and the acknowledged next leader of the Church of Holy Light, Elfido. As for the earlier rumors that this person might be tied to the Abyss Cultists, Elfido could personally guarantee they were not rumors. As for how the other party entered, that was simple enough.
An investor coming to see his investment target was not strange at all.
"Is that so…"