D.I.O

“Leviathan.”

A gust of wind suddenly blew. The monster’s eyes slowly opened, revealing city-sized pupils as the dragon laid its eyes on the world. The pressure exuding from those eyes was so forceful that it terrified the Masters and anyone watching the scene through their television.

A heavy sense of intimidation descended upon everyone as if they were facing an immovable mountain. Moreover, there was an intense hatred that seemed to burn within one’s soul.

Everyone who saw those eyes sensed a singular meaning in their mind.

/I…

… despise you all./

The ordinary people taking pictures of Tan’s monstrous body couldn’t help but collapse and relieve themselves. Some even grasped their chest and rolled on the floor before their movements stopped for good.

“His true nature is finally emerging… I can hear the sound of the image he’s built up over the past several millennia going poof and disappearing into thin air. Well, should I at least be glad he’s not Satan?”

Quiet Heaven shook his head when he heard Ellie click her tongue and comment.

“Since this isn’t the end times, he couldn’t do that even if he wanted to. However, it does seem like he’s been pushed into a corner. For an old dragon like Tan to not be able to control his emotions….”

Compared to the relatively calm Quiet Heaven and Ellie, Wukong was restless.

“Hey, shouldn’t we retreat? No, before that, why is there no news from the Elohim? Are things progressing so quickly that the Noblesse aren’t able to check the situation? Have the gods’ brains rotted after being held up on a pedestal for so long?”

“Oh, our great and esteemed Son Wukong… You always spoke so highly of the Celesti, but where are they now?”

“When did I ever praise the Celesti? The only being I respect is the Great Sage Heaven’s Equal!” Contrary to their rugged names, the Stone Monkeys, which Wukong was a member of, were a species that possessed significant power within the Noblesse organization; however, their origin was more closely related to the Elohim, not the Noblesse.

Case in point, Son Wukong was the great saint of the Great Sage Heaven’s Equal.

Wukong was a renowned Elohim fighter of the highest rank, and his presence, name, and achievements had been engraved in the annals of the [universe]. Thanks to this, even the subconscious of Earth’s humans, which existed on the outskirts of the universe, knew Wukong. This allowed him to carry his name with pride, but in this situation, his name had no use.

“Well, if Great Sage Heaven’s Equal came in person, then I might be a bit impressed,” Quiet Heaven muttered.

“Heck, it doesn’t even have to be Great Sage Heaven’s Equal! No, shouldn’t we at least expect a lower-leveled individual to mobilize? Everyone’s always making a fuss and crying out for order and justice every day, but where are they now?”

Wukong stopped speaking and raised his head to look up at Tan. The ancient magic dragon remained still, his body so vast that it stretched far beyond a bystander’s field of vision if they stood before it.

“It’s pure chaos right now, but why isn’t he making a move?”

Tan didn’t even need to use an ultimate magic spell. Just by kicking off the ground, jumping up, and rolling around on the planet, Tan would cause a global- no, a planetary catastrophe. His overwhelming mass transcended the power of most material weapons.

Yet, before their thoughts could go any further, a voice interrupted them.

“Hey, bird brain.”

“Call me Quiet Heaven.”

“Sure, bird brain. Where’s Merlin?”

“Well… that’s a good question.”

“That bastard - why is he so late to the party!”

Cruze gnashed her teeth while restoring her depleted aura power. Even for her, a mostly closeted figure, Arthur was somewhat of a friend. Although they had drifted apart recently, Cruze still felt heartbroken after seeing him die.

However, the situation was urgent, and she could not afford any time for mourning. Tan towered over Cruze, standing so tall that she had to tilt her head almost all the way back to see the dragon’s head, almost over a kilometer away. This foe was incredibly daunting and powerful.

‘In the end… do I need to use… that? On Earth?’

Among the weapons Cruze had programmed into her arsenal, there were three types of exceptional limited-arm weapons she could call upon. One was Earth Breaker, a strategic weapon of the 4th Stage of Civilization able to control the force of attraction and repulsion and manipulate spatial vectors. There was also Infinity Shelter, another creation of a 4th Stage of Civilization. This object could separate time and space to protect everything within a set area.

And then, there was…

“Genocider.”

Genocider was a product of the 3rd Stage of Civilization. Of course, such a weapon easily surpassed the level of Earth’s 2nd Stage of Civilization technology. However, unlike how Earth’s scientists couldn’t understand Earth Breaker and Infinity Shelter even if they were right in front of them, Genocider was within the range that humankind could understand with its current knowledge and infrastructure.

Considering that there was a limit to the total amount of energy output Cruze could produce due to the nature of materialization… Genocider was the most effective and efficient among the three limited-arm weapons at her disposal.

“You’re thinking of using an antimatter cannon?”

Cruze gritted her teeth after hearing Lancelot.

“Do we have any other option? Look at the size of that thing… that monster is at least 100 kilometers in diameter. Do you think anything else will work against that thing? Even if you stabbed its eyes with your spear, you probably wouldn’t penetrate its cornea.”

Antimatter operated under the opposite concept of matter, and when combined with matter, it annihilated the object at that moment and converted matter into energy.

The energy emitted by antimatter was the combined mass of the matter and antimatter, and in theory, when antimatter annihilated in pairs, the energy produced equaled 43 billion times the input mass. In other words, just one gram of antimatter had the explosive power of 43,000 tons of TNT, meaning that it could exert more power than a nuclear bomb.

Even Cruze wasn’t sure what kind of damage an antimatter cannon would deal to Earth if she used Genocider. At the very least, the people living in South Korea, Japan, and parts of China would probably be affected.

“That’s not what I meant.”

However, Lancelot continued speaking in a calm voice.

“I’m asking if you’re okay.”

“Oh….”

Cruze staggered. In truth, she had nearly reached her limit. She had been keeping the transcendent Tan in check for a while, and Cruze had recently materialized Earth Breaker to its time limit. Consequently, she had expended a tremendous amount of her stamina and willpower.

Additionally, Cruze wasn’t the only one facing this problem.

“Darian’s Mercy….”

“Body, Virtuous Gate (5th Gate), open.”

“Damn it… I can’t seem to recover even if I eat….”

The number of Masters healing each other’s injuries and recovering their spiritual powers had decreased to a minuscule number. The battle had been fierce and contentious up to a certain point, but then, Soul Extinction happened.

“Did you check?”

A caucasian man in a suit answered Bruce Wayne’s question.

“Yes. The IDs and accounts of those who perished have all been deleted… their real-life bodies are also confirmed to be in comas.”

“Damn it….”

While he wasn’t an expert, Wayne had studied the spiritual power field, so he knew about the connection between one’s body and soul. No matter what, if the physical body was alive, but the soul was gone, the being was, for all intents and purposes, dead.

Although a soulless person may appear to be in a vegetative state, their condition was far worse than a normal coma. Strictly speaking, being soulless was worse than standard death. If someone’s soul were annihilated, they couldn’t naturally flow to the Nether World and reenter the circle of life.

‘Our side’s force has decreased tremendously. Should I at least be glad that I kept my distance at that critical time?’

Bruce Wayne frowned and checked the status of the remaining Masters. There were less than thirty. Just in case, Bruce Wayne had his underlings check the state of any Masters caught in Tan’s [expansion]. When he found out that those individuals had their existence annihilated as well, he knew the situation was grave and severe.

Moreover, most of the leftover Masters were wounded.

“Adol! Adol, are you okay?”

“Ugh… I’m okay… ugh.”

As he coughed up blood, Adol made an expression that was incomprehensible to the cleric using divine power to heal him.

“Your condition isn’t improving! I don’t understand… on the surface, it doesn’t seem like a serious injury!”

“That’s… to be expected. I should have died, so it’s actually abnormal that I’m alive.”

Adol responded as calmly as possible despite suffering from a tremendous sense of loss and physical pain. Bruce Wayne was watching this as he expressed his confusion.

“What do you mean that you should have died?” Bruce Wayne asked.

“I was hit by Tan’s Soul Extinction, but… my Master Skill, Oath of Chivalry, instantly strengthened my soul, so I was able to somehow endure his spell.”

Adol had lost more than 30 percent of his soul. Luckily, Adol didn’t suffer any memory loss since his body, or, to be exact, his brain, had not suffered any damage; however, the loss of his soul had a devastating effect on his ego, and that wasn’t all. Adol would have to live a life of struggle, needing to constantly endure a sense of endless loss and pain forever.

“Black, is it possible to cure him?”

At Bruce Wayne’s question, his mount, the Black Unicorn, snorted.

“Brr! A cure? Cure a lost soul? Maybe if you had some sort of infinite revival spell?! Are you mad?”

“Do you want to starve to death?”

“… If an esteemed high-level transcendent were to step in, he may be healed, master.”

“For example?”

“The most realistic possibility is Darian, who is known for being benevolent. By the way, that user is a follower of Darian, so if he serves Darian for a long time, he will be blessed and has a high probability of regaining parts of his missing soul.”

“So, what is the specific probability?”

“It’s a high probability. About one in ten billion.”

“…”

In the end, after excluding the Masters who were unable to fight, including Adol, there were only about twenty available Masters. Alas, even these individuals weren’t in fighting shape as they’d died repeatedly during this prolonged battle.

“We’re in a pretty desperate state, but it’s a bit bizarre….”

Bruce Wayne looked around him. The whole place was filled with a heavy silence. Quite a few Masters were talking here and there, but they were all whispering.

The sight reminded Bruce Wayne of the cause of this tension.

“No, wait. Black.”

“Brr! Yes, master?”

“How come… How come that guy isn’t moving? Based on the mood and momentum he exuded earlier, he seemed like he was about to run out of control, no?”

“Brr! You call that a question? The reason is simple.”

Bruce Wayne’s pet, Black, looked up at Tan.

“It’s because….”

Black abruptly shut its mouth. Tan had been enraged just ten minutes ago but was now standing still; the unicorn realized that this situation was definitely not normal.

“… wait… what’s wrong with him?”

***

Tan, the being on everyone’s mind, spoke in a calm tone using spiritual speech.

[This was an accident.]

[No. This wasn’t an accident. Since I’ve been observing from the sidelines, you must be thinking that I’m just a dumb scarecrow.]

Standing on the bridge of Tan’s nose, which was large enough to erect dozens of buildings on it, a cute-looking penguin spoke in a cold voice with spiritual speech.

[I’ve kept quiet and just watched all this time, so you must take me for a dumb mute now, huh?]

[I…]

Tan cleared his mind and settled his temper. His anger rose to the point of dizziness, but he knew that now was not the time to gain more enemies.

[Don’t push it… I might lose my cool and fall off the deep end.]

[Oh, so you’re resorting to threats now.]

[Do you truly want to see what a threat is? Shall we put an end to everything?]

The cute penguin giggled after hearing Tan’s growl, and its two short wings fluttered.

[Hahaha! Wow, you’re really mad right now, aren’t you? I didn’t know you could still exert such emotion at your advanced age.]

[Stop. Anyway, you and I are both bound by law and preset rules, so let’s negotiate. You already know that I have no intention of causing great harm and damage to this planet, right?]

Obviously, the number of casualties Tan’s actions had caused wasn’t negligible. However, the Planet God, a penguin in this case, served to manage [civilization] itself, not to value every single life.

Earth’s Planet God was a powerful, untouchable existence with a high divine position; the word omnipotent was the most accurate term to describe its powers. If this Planet God loved humanity and valued each life, humankind would have had to live under an absolute rule, where no war or murder could ever exist.

[That’s true, but… let’s hear what you have to say first. What do you want?]

[Operating rights of DIO and Muspelheim. Although my present actions are beyond what I’m allowed to do, you probably know why I’m taking such extreme measures. Both DIO and Muspelheim were originally mine.]

[Hmm, your explanation is a bit different from what I know.]

Although the Planet God was an independent being without any connection with the [outside] universe, it knew the general situation due to its omniscience, which was one of its famous and formidable powers. Since the Empress of Magic, Jenica, had made more than 80 percent of DIO’s system possible, Tan had little ground to claim ownership after essentially robbing her. Of course, Tan intended to use his previous ownership of DIO as the basis for his claim. Yet, if that was the case, shouldn’t Merlin, the outstanding talent who currently [owned and operated] DIO, have just as strong of a claim?

[It’s merely a transitory change in ownership. DIO belongs to me.]

[It’s hard for me to agree with your claim. Well, when it comes to Muspelheim, I might be able to understand- Huh?]

The Planet God suddenly stopped speaking. The penguin was so surprised and taken aback that it clasped its beaks together unconsciously and let out a resounding snapping sound.

[What? What about Muspelheim?]

[Muspelheim is… Hahaha! Oh, my God. Cheeky! Hahaha!]

As he witnessed the penguin’s annoying laughter, Tan grew restless. The penguin acted in this manner because its [omniscient] characteristic conveyed new information.

[What is it?]

[Hahaha! Oh my! This is why humans shouldn’t be overlooked!]

Tan frowned as he saw the penguin burst into another fit of maniacal laughter.

[What’s going on?]

[As for what happened, it doesn’t seem like you’ll ever be getting Muspelheim back.]

Then, the Planet God fluttered its two short wings, and the world turned gray…

“What is it? What the hell did you bring over to my planet?”

An Asian girl with a slightly cute impression appeared without any warning as if she had been there from the beginning. Tan frowned, but the penguin chuckled.

[Ah, sorry. I have some potentially good news for you. Didn’t you say you were worried because demons kept crossing over and coming to your planet?]

“So, you brought me this lump?”

[Ah, don’t be angry~ It’s an opportunity to deal with your problem without having to do any heavy lifting. Just the aftershock of the upcoming battle will be enough to chase away all the demons that have been troubling you.]

At the penguin’s words, the girl furrowed her eyebrows.

“Chasing away all the demons just from the aftershock of battle… Your humans are that strong? You don’t even have a proper transcendent, no?”

With an anxious feeling, Tan looked at the two Planet Gods conversing on the bridge of his nose. As long as he got his hands on Merlin, his primary goal, and the Magic Tower, it wasn’t a problem to be dragged along by these Planet Gods, but his intuition sounded a warning. Something about their conversation seemed off.

[You guys… what are you discussing? Do you intend to not negotiate?]

Since a Planet God was an entity that managed a civilization, it always operated and moved from a macroscopic perspective. Even if hundreds of thousands of war refugees died every day, even if the entire Earth were shaken to the core by extraterrestrial beings’ attacks, the Planet God would only bring down sanctions based on a set of predetermined [rules].

Knowing this, Tan firmly believed that, regardless of whether Earth’s Planet God was angry at his actions, it wouldn’t immediately react with an extreme decision. Above all, Tan possessed a wide range of resources and experience to [negotiate].

However, the Earth’s Planet God just laughed as if it was having loads of fun.

[I don’t think negotiations are necessary.]

[What? What are you talking about…]

Rumble!

At that moment, a gale blew around them. It arose because Tan’s neck, taller than a modern skyscraper and larger than a city or a mountain range, had turned.

[Oh my, oh dear…] The penguin commented.

The Magic Tower seemed firmly embedded in the ground as it came into Tan’s field of vision. The tower was quite large, but from his point of view, it was the size of a toothpick.

However, Tan clearly recognized the small presence inside the building’s collapsed wall.

Merlin.

He was holding up a bow.

And soon, a red line extended toward Tan.

Tan screamed, having understood all things occurring with his transcendent perception.

[You crazy son of a bitch!]