Boom, boom, boom!
An even greater torrent of death energy was Ankhseram's only answer.
The god clearly had no intention of explaining himself. Either that, or Marco's questions had left him with nothing to say.
Wave after wave of death crashed against Marco's Cosmo, yet none of it could break through.
The failure only seemed to make Ankhseram more furious.
"So you're not interested in talking?"
Marco smiled.
There was no doubt that this thing possessed its own will.
The standards it used to choose its victims were far too inconsistent to be some automatic law that activated under fixed conditions.
Zeref, at least, had genuinely violated the boundary between life and death.
He had brought his younger brother back from the dead, though the method raised an obvious question: was the revived Natsu truly his original brother, or was he now the demon E.N.D.?
Zeref had also created an entire race of demonic life-forms.
When it came to manipulating life and death, he could hardly claim he had been falsely accused.
Marco himself had no such excuse either. He had unquestionably resurrected Mavis.
But Mavis had done nothing to deserve the curse.
She had violated no law of life and death.
The curse had struck her for no clear reason and triggered a chain of tragedies that ruined countless lives.
All she had done was use an incomplete Grand Spell.
What did that have to do with a god who supposedly governed life and death?
Marco might not have cared so deeply if the victim had been a stranger.
But Mavis was family.
Once someone harmed a member of Fairy Tail, Marco's protective instincts took over completely.
He had every intention of settling the matter with Ankhseram properly.
The god's refusal to communicate only made things worse. He offered no explanation, showed no regret, and clearly had no intention of making amends.
"Then don't blame me for what happens next."
Marco released the Rod of Asclepius and flexed his hands.
He had not attacked once since entering this space. He had spent the entire time trying to speak with Ankhseram, while the god had repeatedly attempted to kill him.
At this point, anything Marco did could be called self-defense.
Buzz!
With a casual gesture, twelve golden weapons appeared around him.
No—thirteen, including the Rod of Asclepius floating nearby.
Then Marco summoned the Golden Bow and Golden Arrow as well, bringing the total to fourteen.
Boom!
A deafening explosion shook the hidden dimension as twelve of the golden weapons shot forward at once.
They carved twelve blazing trails through the darkness, forcing apart the sea of death energy as they flew toward the god hiding within it.
Ankhseram had merged his presence into the endless power filling this realm, but Marco could still see him clearly.
His eyes could observe the world from any distance and peer into countless possible futures. Within a space this small, there was nowhere Ankhseram could hide.
Buzz, buzz, buzz!
Marco raised the Golden Bow and set the Golden Arrow against its string.
Slaying a god was hardly beyond the reach of Sagittarius.
With Marco's burning Cosmo condensed into the arrow, even a deity standing high above mortals could be shot from the heavens!
Twang!
The Golden Arrow tore forward alongside the twelve weapons.
The combined force swept through the entire dimension, dragging the surrounding death energy into chaos.
The hidden world began producing sharp, tearing noises as Marco's power exceeded what the space could endure.
Cracks spread across the dimension.
The realm was collapsing.
"In a world with no divine protection or restrictions holding me back, I can call myself a god among mortals without exaggeration." Marco's voice carried through the breaking space. "And you still thought you could ignore me?"
Until now, he had never truly unleashed the full strength of a Gold Saint.
Earth-land was simply too fragile.
If he lost control for even a moment, he might destroy the entire world by accident.
Once someone awakened the Seventh Sense and became a true Gold Saint, destroying a planet was no longer difficult.
The title "god among mortals" was not poetic exaggeration. In an unprotected world as vulnerable as a naked infant, a Gold Saint could bring about the end with ease.
Boom!
A devastating explosion engulfed the death-filled dimension.
The twelve golden weapons tore through the realm, leaving enormous fissures wherever they passed.
At the same time, the Golden Arrow struck the fleeing Ankhseram directly and punched through his body.
The god had no stable physical form. He resembled a dense mass of death energy gathered into a vaguely living shape.
Marco's god-slaying arrow blew that form apart completely.
He glanced at the system.
The mission that had just appeared remained incomplete.
Ankhseram was still alive.
"You merged yourself with the whole dimension?" Marco smiled. "Not a bad trick, but it won't save you."
The god had survived a full-powered Golden Arrow, which was more impressive than Marco had expected.
This was not one of the restrained shots he had used in Earth-land.
"Then I'll destroy the entire space with you inside it."
At Marco's command, the other nine Gold Cloths appeared behind him, excluding the Sagittarius Gold Cloth he was currently wearing.
Of the standard Gold Cloths, only Virgo, Scorpio, and Taurus remained locked.
"I'll show you what a ridiculously overpowered Athena Exclamation looks like."
Marco drew in a breath and ignited every trace of Cosmo within him.
All ten Gold Cloths answered his call.
Streams of golden light converged into a tiny sphere between his hands, as though ten powerful Gold Saints were pouring their strength into the attack together.
The entire dimension began to tremble.
Boom!
Marco pushed the sphere forward.
Space immediately distorted around it.
The tiny orb seemed to possess limitless attraction, annihilating the energy that held the hidden dimension together.
"AAAAAAARGH!" Ankhseram finally spoke again.
This time, it was not an accusation or a declaration of divine law.
It was a scream.
The god had finally understood the danger. His life was genuinely at risk.
"I will release them!"
Ankhseram's voice echoed through the collapsing realm.
"What kind of surrender is that supposed to be?"
Marco nearly laughed.
Even now, the god still did not seem to understand his position.
Boom!
Marco vanished along with the golden weapons.
The sphere of Athena Exclamation detonated.
When Marco reappeared, he was standing in the Underworld with a slowly rotating black sphere of energy in his hand.
"So much for the god who governs life and death."
He examined the sphere.
This was Ankhseram's true essence. Marco had quite literally blasted the god back into his original form.
"Can I exchange this for Blood of God?"
Marco squeezed the energy sphere thoughtfully.
He already possessed three portions of Blood of God, but that was nowhere near enough. The more of such a resource he had, the better.
[This item can be exchanged for Blood of God ×20.]
The Saint System actually responded.
Twenty portions.
This was an enormous advantage.
Thinking about it, Marco had used overwhelming force against a relatively minor opponent.
Even in the world of the Saints, that combination of attacks would have made a god bleed.
A weaker deity might not have survived at all.
Ankhseram being worth twenty portions of Blood of God was therefore not unreasonable.
"Now that feels good. I got rid of an irritating god and gained twenty portions of Blood of God." Marco smiled.
"And I still have another Gold Cloth reward."
He left the Underworld and returned to the place where he usually unlocked new Gold Cloths.
Boom!
After the now-familiar display of starlight and golden power, another Gold Cloth awakened.
[Congratulations! The Scorpio Gold Cloth has been unlocked!]