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"A god's graveyard? You think a human gets to say something like that? Hahahaha."
Apollo's body transformed directly into a blazing sun, then began to swell at a terrifying rate.
Whatever this barrier was, he only needed to crush it with overwhelming force.
With the power of a god, should that not have been the easiest thing in the world?
But the moment he struck the outer wall of Forbidden Spell Paradise, he realized something was wrong.
His power was being absorbed and dissolved at a frightening speed.
Every formation embedded in the barrier was saturated with terrifying chaotic energy, effortlessly suppressing him and forcing him back.
Boom!
Apollo hardened his resolve and detonated the sun itself.
"It's useless."
Anos smiled and shook his head. The power sustaining Forbidden Spell Paradise was being supplied by Ophis.
There was no way Apollo could break through it.
That was right.
Ophis.
There was no way Anos would leave such an overwhelming trump card unused.
The moment he decided Apollo had to die, he had already contacted Ophis, who had been happily eating and drinking her way through another world, and asked her to come help.
He had not chosen to have Ophis kill Apollo directly the moment Apollo returned to heaven, because that would have been far too obvious.
If a god who had descended to the lower world was openly slain, it could directly reshape the balance of power in Orario.
It might even shatter the agreement the gods had made not to use divine power.
Only by making Apollo vanish without a trace could this be handled perfectly.
That was where Forbidden Spell Paradise revealed its true worth. It isolated everything. Even a god's divination would never be able to uncover what happened inside.
As long as Forbidden Spell Paradise remained intact, no one would ever know why Apollo died. They might even suspect he was secretly plotting something, since he had broken the terms of his return and yet could not be found in heaven either.
At that moment, the divinity of the God of the Bible was running under extreme load, devoting nearly all of its processing power to cutting off causality, severing space, and suppressing Apollo.
With Anos's own strength, maintaining Forbidden Spell Paradise for long was impossible.
That was why he had called Ophis to stand behind him. As long as Ophis supplied the power, that weakness ceased to matter.
And he.
He would kill Apollo while Apollo remained sealed inside Forbidden Spell Paradise.
I swear this here and now.
I will allow no existence that I cannot cut apart.
This sword is the blade that can sever and cleave all things upon the earth.
It is the invincible blade.
As his divine authority was activated, a golden holy sword appeared in Anos's hand.
Golden and silver radiance intertwined, flooding the entirety of Forbidden Spell Paradise in twin colors of gold and silver.
The Holy Sword of Demon King Slaying.
Drawn.
After thinking it over for so long, Anos had still chosen to wield it.
If he formed a contract with Est and then never used her, Est would be hurt.
At worst, he simply had to avoid using its curse-breaking power. If he ever needed that function, he could always rely on mass-produced holy swords.
No matter how one looked at it, the Holy Sword of Demon King Slaying was an extraordinarily high-grade holy sword. Leaving it unused would be an unforgivable waste.
Pushing aside the extremely questionable thought of whether what he was holding was technically Est's head or Est's tiny foot, Anos released all of his power.
Since the computing power of the God of the Bible's divinity could not be used freely right now, then he would fight as a warrior.
With Anos's personal processing ability as it currently stood, defeating Apollo through a direct magical clash was nearly impossible.
So he would become a warrior.
Of course, he could have asked Ophis to divert some of her focus and help him directly.
But handing something to someone else that he could accomplish himself was not the kind of thing he liked to do.
He had too much pride for that.
At the same time, he was not delusional. If he truly could not handle Apollo, then he would have Ophis intervene without hesitation.
Killing a god in front of Ophis like this could also be considered a return on her early investment.
After all, once this battle ended, Ophis would have to charge the Ark Sphere again. It was only right to let her see that what she gave him was worth it.
"Apollo, it's pointless. I would never corner myself like this unless I was certain I could finish the job."
Holding the demonic sword in his hand, Anos spoke calmly.
"Tch."
Apollo ground his teeth in frustration.
Until now, he had acted as though none of this mattered, but the moment he realized that even his full power could not break free, he finally became serious.
"Where exactly did you get something like this..."
He absolutely refused to believe this was the Holy Child's own power. He was far more inclined to believe that some god had handed him a powerful divine artifact, one that granted him the temporary ability to imprison a god.
With a god's pride, how could he possibly accept that a being he had always regarded as nothing more than an insect and a toy truly possessed the power to trap him here?
"Apollo, you can go in peace now."
A crimson gauntlet adorned with golden accents appeared on Anos's hand.
The Longinus.
Boosted Gear.
To deal with Apollo, Anos had reclaimed the authority of the Longinus in advance.
Since all his computational strength was being devoted to the seal, then he might as well commit completely to the role of a frontline warrior.
In the end, there was only one truth.
Apollo had to die.
"The power of a dragon."
Apollo's eyes locked onto the gauntlet on Anos's arm. It looked oddly out of place on him.
A weapon radiating overwhelming spiritual power and draconic aura simply did not match the image Apollo had formed of him.
But what truly caught Apollo's attention was the strength of the dragon behind it.
From his own observation, this dragon was absolutely beneath a god, yet not by much.
While Apollo was still processing that, Anos activated the power of the Red Dragon Emperor.
"Boosted Gear: Balance Breaker."
Boosted Gear Scale Mail.
The upper limit of Balance Breaker hovered around the level of a Demon King.
That level already possessed enough force to threaten a god.
"A dragon is still nothing but worthless before a god."
As if saying it aloud would strengthen his own resolve, layers of flame erupted around Apollo once more.
Several small golden suns formed around him.
He had made up his mind.
If the Holy Child possessed this kind of power, if he carried strength that could threaten Apollo's life, then there was no longer any point in trying to collect him as a toy.
Apollo had no interest in keeping dangerous toys.
It was a shame.
The Holy Child might have been the most perfect, most desirable possession Apollo had ever wanted.
"Ddraig, it sounds like he's looking down on your power."
Anos smiled faintly.
Across countless worlds, dragons were the kind of beings that could clash with gods head-on. It seemed the gods of this world had simply grown too arrogant. In that light, it was hardly surprising that disasters like dragons devouring gods could happen later on.
"Then let's show him what our power really looks like, partner."
Ddraig's fighting spirit surged as well. Challenging a god from another world was exactly the kind of thing a dragon should do.
Following this partner really was fun.
"Of course."
Anos smiled sharply.
I.
Who am I about to awaken?
Am the Heavenly Dragon who has stolen the principles of supremacy from the gods.
Mock the infinite and grieve the unreal.
I shall become the Red Dragon Overlord.
And sink you into the crimson depths of purgatory.
Juggernaut Drive.
Boost. Boost. Boost. Boost. Boost. Boost.
The green jewel released an emerald glow, and the aura surrounding Anos surged to its absolute peak.
Juggernaut Drive.
The forbidden technique that unleashed the dragon soul in full.
Every host of the Two Heavenly Dragons inherited the debts left behind by countless previous hosts.
Because the fate of those hosts was almost always miserable, with most of them dying after using Juggernaut Drive, enormous resentment had built up inside Boosted Gear and Divine Dividing alike.
For an average wielder, simply activating it would have meant being swallowed by those grudges, falling into a maddened state, and fighting until their life force burned out.
Only prodigies like Vali, blessed with both human and devil blood, could use magic power in place of life force and wield Juggernaut Drive that freely.
Of course, after fully coming into his own, Anos could do the same.
And even before reincarnation, he had already used the God of the Bible's divinity to purify the hatred stored inside him. Those spirits who wished to reincarnate had been sent on. Those who preferred to remain wandering souls had been left to do so.
The only thing he would not allow was for them to remain inside the sacred gear.
As far back as his days in the DxD world, using Boosted Gear had done nothing more than drain his stamina.
The gold and silver holy sword gleamed in Anos's hand, radiating an overwhelming presence.
The silver left arm that could tear all things apart was in no way inferior to Boosted Gear. In fact, if developed properly, its ceiling might far surpass it.
"I told you already. This is your graveyard."
Anos narrowed his eyes.
That was not merely something he had said aloud.
It was also the outcome determined by Absolute Dichotomy.
And the results judged by Absolute Dichotomy had never once been wrong.
"Even gods reach their end, Apollo."
One Blade Shura.
In an instant, Anos's speed exploded to its absolute limit.
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~Support with 200 PowerStones = 1 Bonus Chapter
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