D.I.O

“Apollon.”

As the red ray of light hit Leviathan and gave off a booming sound that was as if the heavens and earth were collapsing, he rolled across the ground and fell into the East Sea. Actually, that wasn’t totally accurate. The East Sea boasted a considerable water depth, but it wasn’t large enough to hold Leviathan’s body, which was so huge that its body to poked through the clouds while in an upright position.

Rumble!

Leviathan rose back up at lightning speed. That action alone caused a string of natural disasters, ranging from storms and earthquakes to a tsunami.

Leviathan was immense.

Even if its mid-level divine status and position and even the superpowers of its divinity were excluded, Leviathan’s physical presence alone was destructive enough to cause human civilization on Earth to perish. Leviathan’s staggering stature possessed a mass commensurate with its size, which was so large that just its back could contain dozens of cities. The power to move such an epic amount of mass couldn’t be explained by the laws of modern physics as the existence of Leviathan itself escaped the framework that humans used to understand the world. This unbelievably large and inexplicable existence was the Demon Dragon of the Apocalypse—Leviathan, Tan’s true body.

Regardless…

“Howling Spell.”

Merlin notched another arrow and pulled back on his bowstring.

“Apollon.”

Giving off a telltale twang sound, the bow launched the arrow across the air. It was an attack that seemed light, but… it was not an attack that Leviathan, such a large target, could avoid. Moreover, Leviathan constantly consumed an astronomical amount of power just to protect itself.

Even when Tan tried to take advantage of an opening to counter…

- Oh, dear. Aren’t you embarrassed to resort to such trivial tricks, Apocalypse? It's been a while since I’ve seen you, but you’re making me increasingly angry by not meeting me head-on and constantly avoiding me.

The magic power of Tan, who tried to cast an ultimate magic spell from a distance while momentarily disabling his defense, was crushed by an enormous godly power. Tan’s gathered magic power was swiftly dispersed before it could deal any damage.

A huge being was now burning brightly in front of Tan.

[Sun God!!]

- Ah~ I feel so good. It’s like the glory days of old.

The Sun God gazed up at the sky with an elated expression as he gently soared upward. He had exhausted all of his power and completed his momentary manifestation earlier. Yet, he had somehow gotten recharged with a phenomenal amount of energy afterward, and his withering manifestation, which had started to disappear into the void, was resummoned.

- I don’t know how this is possible… but since the opportunity has come, I should enjoy it, right?

When the Sun God finished speaking, another burst of light exploded, and Leviathan caught on fire once again.

[Nonsense! How is this possible!]

Leviathan squirmed and screamed. Tan felt like he was in a nightmare.

“Howling Spell.”

No, the situation was much worse than any nightmare he could have.

“Apollon.”

The red beam of light was no longer aimed at Leviathan. The subsequent rays of red light flew into the sky instead and were sucked into the body of Apollo, the Sun God. They were transformed into energy that would sustain his divine status.

After receiving all that power, Apollo made a bow consisting of waves of heat and flames. It was a waste of energy for him to summon a weapon after being summoned himself, but his summoner was supplying him with an unlimited amount of energy. Moreover, the quality of that supplied energy was top-notch. If a divine being like him had such resources, there was really nothing the Sun God couldn’t do.

Flash!

Another beam of fiery light was emitted, and the sea at Leviathan’s feet evaporated and completely disappeared without even the chance of becoming steam. Simultaneously, Leviathan was pushed back dozens of kilometers as if it had been hit by something unimaginably huge. The seemingly simple beam of fiery light contained a spiritual wave, spiritual heat, and even physical force. Despite possessing phenomenal strength and power, Leviathan could only defend desperately.

“Wow, wait. This is no joke…” the girl, who was looking down at the battle from the sky, groaned after sensing the powerful blow that should have only been possible for a high-ranking god. “Leviathan might actually die.”

It should have been impossible. This scene gave her a similar feeling to that of watching a world-class martial artist fight against a three-year-old toddler and seeing the fighter’s ribs crack and intestines rupture from the toddler’s punch.

The possibility of Leviathan’s death never occurred to the omniscient Planet Gods, or anyone else in the universe for that matter. Even the high-ranking gods, who were said to be beings who could see the past and future of the entire universe, had never considered this possibility.

[Hmm, I see… He has that thing stuck in his heart while having to fend off attack after attack… If things continue to progress in the same way, it’s fairly likely that he’ll die.]

“Don’t we need to save him?”

Leviathan wasn’t meant to die in a place like this. It was a living part of the universe’s history and had existed since the beginning of time. Furthermore, Leviathan was a divine tool of the Creation God that directly received and executed the orders of the Creator. However, Tan had fallen from grace and reached this low point in his illustrious career and life. If he still had the strength and power he possessed in his heyday, even those with a higher divine position would have a hard time meeting his eyes.

[Hmm, I can answer that question in two words.]

“Two words?”

Looking at the puzzled girl, the penguin answered with, [Us? Why?]

It was true that, despite being the Planet God where DIO was being operated, the penguin had mostly turned a blind eye to the Noblesse’s violence and activities on Earth. In particular, the penguin had simply observed Tan’s actions even though Tan’s actions were punishable under the authority of a Planet God. This was just a broad interpretation of a Planet God’s authority though.

However, the penguin’s lack of action wasn’t because it supported Tan or the Noblesse.

“Hmm… I guess you’ve got a point…”

The two Planet Gods were merely the custodians of their respective civilizations, so they weren’t on anyone’s side. They enforced the rules and laws they were tasked with, so they were more like observers than anything else. If the Planet Gods expanded their authority or wielded their authority at will, many civilizations in the universe would have had to serve the Planet Gods as their masters.

[Well, having said that, I don’t think that huge guy will die.]

“Hmm? What?”

Bam!

The moment the penguin finished speaking, a red line was drawn in the air again, and Apollo’s body, which had been blurry, burned more clearly. It was a mythical godly power that was impossible to properly comprehend!

Leviathan possessed great durability, so it would remain intact even after being hit by hundreds of falling meteorites. Yet, Leviathan was currently taking on considerable damage and would likely perish if things continued as they were. The mighty carapace that protected Leviathan had all but cracked and melted, and flames had penetrated and burned its internal organs. Based on the momentum on the battlefield, it seemed likely that things would only get worse for Leviathan.

Possessing the power of omniscience as a Planet God, the girl knew what Leviathan’s current condition was. If Merlin were to shoot just one more arrow, Leviathan’s existence would be completely erased from the universe.

Nevertheless, at that moment…

“Ah, that’s right. There are those others,” the girl said and nodded in realization.

The penguin laughed after hearing the girl’s words.

[Yeah, even if they act based on their own goals and objectives, they’re all still on the same side in the end.] The penguin’s voice was full of contempt as he said the last parts of that line.

Nonetheless, the most important thing at this very moment, for the penguin at least, wasn’t the eventuality of the conclusion. The penguin flapped its wings and looked down at Merlin.

[Anyway, besides that…]

The penguin made a puzzled expression.

[How many damn arrows is that guy planning to shoot?]

***

“Oh, my God. Get down!!!”

“Oh, man! What is this?! Dude, in the end, we’re both human, right? But why is his firepower on a completely different scale… Argh!!”

The Masters huddled around the Magic Tower as they screamed and ducked for cover.

Another burst of light covered the world. The transmitted power was difficult for the Masters to comprehend, let alone measure.

“This is nonsense. No matter how out of the ordinary Merlin is, this is unreasonable!”

Arthur, who had reached the transcendent state after successfully photonizing his body, had also been an unspeakably powerful existence, but the power that Merlin was showing off now was on a completely different level.

Whoosh!

Mountain ranges crumbled, and the land cracked. Lava rose from the ground, and the sea evaporated without even the chance of becoming water vapor, clearly revealing the bottom of the sea. It was a battle of truly mythical proportions.

Surprisingly, however, the Masters didn’t face much collateral damage from the fierce battle. This was largely because Merlin’s attacks were not merely explosions of power but miracles performed by a being with divine status.

The force that had been created by a miracle was completely filled with providence and law. That was why the ones who suffered collateral damage from the battle were a completely different set of beings.

“Kyak!”

“Argh!”

“Ack!”

The demonic beasts that were hiding in the dark shadows screamed. Their desperate attempts to hide were in vain as they all evaporated without even being able to muster a proper resistance.

The divine fiery light that covered the whole world represented the divine status of the Sun God. The light was so intense and powerful that a lowly demon wouldn’t be able to endure it. There were also beings that were powerful enough to be equivalent to upper-class or top-class demons hiding in the shadows… but even so, those slight differences meant nothing in the presence of Apollo’s divine status.

“Oh, my goodness.”

The observing Masters sighed as they watched the demonic beasts evaporate and disappear.

“I didn’t expect to see Abyss-Class Shadows being massacred en masse like this. Over there, that Drakle… that’s a monster that I can barely manage to defeat 1:1, but…” Youngmin stared outward with a blank expression while standing close to the Magic Tower.

The monsters, each with a fighting power equivalent to thousands of soldiers in a modern army brigade, disappeared as if they had never existed. It was a scene of such tremendous destruction that even the Great Sage, a transcendent who existed in Youngmin’s dimensional world, wouldn’t be able to recreate.

“You know those beasts?”

“Of course. I hate to admit it, but Another Plane is like my hometown… huh?” Youngmin’s words trailed off.

Youngmin had answered absentmindedly, but he then sensed something off and turned his head to find the speaker. It was a girl who was taking cover next to him.

Youngmin’s eyes widened. “Choi Baedal, how did you get here?”

“What?”

“Oh, I guess you use a different name in the dimension you’re from.”

“What are you talking about?” Leaf tilted her head at the sight of Youngmin muttering some incomprehensible words.

Leaf had been invited to the Magic Tower, so she had gotten to know Youngmin to some extent. However, Youngmin also seemed lost.

“No, wait, why are you here? You’re not fit to be here,” Youngmin stated.

“I was watching from afar, but I was suddenly dragged here for some reason. Anyway, stop being so hard on me. I don’t know why I’m here either!”

Leaf had risen to the level of Master, but that was it. She was just one of many newly minted Masters. Furthermore, she had not succeeded in changing her DIO occupation, which was a condition a user had to fulfill to be called a real Master.

When a user reached the Master level, they would receive an occupation transfer quest from the Grand Master of a Holy Land. The moment they cleared the quest, they would receive an occupation, a Master Skill, and a challenge qualification to obtain a Master Weapon. A user needed to obtain all of these to be recognized as a true Master.

As a being from Earth, Leaf had reached the Master level relatively easily, but she hadn’t built up the skills and abilities to match her position. She was a Master in terms of level, but she wasn’t qualified to be involved in a battle with Tan, so she had excused herself and watched the battle from a safe distance on a TV broadcast feed. However, she was later suddenly dragged into this place.

“Gosh. I don’t even know how to fight.”

Youngmin put on an exasperated expression when he heard her words and saw her sigh.

He said, “… You don’t know how to fight? You, Choi Baedal?”

“Why are you calling me ‘Choi Baedal’? Who the hell is Choi Baedal? Also, do I look like a martial artist to you? You may think I can fight because I’m a lifeforce user, but I reached the Master level with Gathering and Transportation!”

Despite her unfamiliarity with fighting, Leaf had been thrown into this battle. Although it wasn’t of her own accord, she was somewhat aware of why she was put in this situation.

‘It must be because of my tattoos.’

Written on both of her arms were the idioms ‘Reflection and Thought’ and ‘Fulfillment after Struggle’. The phrases were written in stylish handwriting; it was as if a master calligrapher had written them with a brush drenched in ink.

‘Why did this happen to me?’

Leaf couldn’t understand why. She hadn’t met a person with a mysterious background who placed some spell on her, nor had she taken something like an elixir. Yet, these strange letters had appeared and settled on her body all of a sudden one day.

The tattoos weren’t doing her any harm, but she had no way of doing anything about them, so she tended to ignore them most of the time. However, the tattoos had placed her in this dangerous environment.

Woong!

“Huh? What’s going on?”

Leaf frowned at the strange sensation she suddenly felt on her arms and took off her robe. The letters on both of her shoulders, which were clearly visible in her sleeveless tee, changed into new phrases—"Crying and Laughing" and "Helplessly Spoiled".