Just call me Thor

Apollo didn't leave much behind.

Perhaps the butterfly itself was Apollo's legacy.

Maybe he had finally come to terms with the fact that he was human, and his duty was to protect humanity.

So, he left the butterfly here.

Sitting on the ninety-ninth floor, Mike didn't bother looking at the three walls.

Instead, he stared blankly into the empty space ahead.

Eventually, he lay down on the ground, gazing at the ceiling, and drifted off to sleep.

For the past ten years, Mike hadn't had much rest.

Wandering through the void, there was no place that could truly be called safe.

As humanity's potential Supreme Being, Mike couldn't afford to think only of his own safety.

If something happened to him, three centuries of effort would be wasted.

Now, finally back home, in the place where he felt safest,

Even though Apollo was no longer on the ninety-ninth floor, the sense of security here was overwhelming.

Mike fell asleep, peacefully and dreamlessly.

He slept for nearly twenty-four hours.

At Mike's current level of strength, sleeping for a year wouldn't have been unusual.

The problem was… Mike had used Final Fate's Reversal.

As the twenty-four-hour mark approached, the White Dog by his side began barking, trying to wake him up.

If he didn't wake up, the consequences could be severe!

Mike, however, treated the dog like an alarm clock, casually tossing its head aside.

At the very last moment, with only five seconds to spare, Mike woke up.

[Not leaving yourself even a minute of buffer time?]

The Eye of Truth issued its warning, but Mike simply chuckled and didn't respond.

By now, he had over a thousand skills stored up.

Even if he didn't create a move for three years, he wouldn't be in any danger.

"Time to get to work."

As he stepped out of the ninety-ninth floor, he noticed that the previously arrogant demon creatures had all retreated into the Tower of Truth.

Clearly, they had realized something was wrong.

Humanity's Supreme Being, Thor, had returned.

Yes…

With Apollo's disappearance, Thor had become humanity's Supreme Being.

At least, that's what the official narrative claimed.

In truth, Thor hadn't yet reached the level of a Supreme Being.

If he ever did, his strength would surpass everyone's expectations.

After leaving the Tower of Truth, Mike made a trip to the legendary sanctuary for recovery.

There, he met Calderon and saw Cedric in his wheelchair.

Calderon was the same as ever—

Rude, foul-mouthed, and constantly spouting "motherfucker" and other colorful insults.

Cedric, in contrast, was much quieter.

Sitting in his wheelchair, he remained silent and aloof.

Mike didn't have much to talk about with Calderon.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Calderon left, and Mike took the opportunity to wheel Cedric back to his room.

Pushing Cedric to the window, Mike picked up an apple and pulled out a small sword.

"Cedric, about my second bro…"

Before Mike could finish, the sword in his hand was effortlessly taken by Cedric.

With his right hand holding the sword and his left holding the apple, Cedric said coldly,

"You're using the sword wrong."

With a slight flick of his wrist, the apple's peel began to fall away in perfect spirals, like layers of an onion.

Not just the peel—even the flesh of the apple was sliced into thin, even layers.

When Cedric was done, a wisp of sword energy swirled around the apple, restoring it to its original state as if it had never been touched.

Mike could have done the same—it wasn't particularly difficult.

What was remarkable, however, was that Cedric, in his current physical condition, could still achieve this level of precision.

His swordsmanship hadn't declined; if anything, it had improved.

Cedric placed the apple and the sword back on the windowsill, gazing silently into the distance.

Mike sighed.

He knew what Cedric was thinking.

Mike often thought about it too.

How was Ares doing in the Heavenly Realm?

---

Heavenly Realm.

A restrained yet terrifying sword light tore through the sky, striking down three powerful demon gods in succession.

Though it didn't kill them, it left them gravely injured.

This was the Heavenly Realm, where all beings were immortal.

The battle drew the attention of every entity in the Heavenly Realm.

Since the heavily injured man had been brought here ten years ago, the very skies of the Heavenly Realm had changed.

For the first time, these beings understood that there were things in this world more terrifying than death.

That sword. Find your next read on My Virtual Library Empire

The man holding the sword felt no sense of accomplishment as he looked at his defeated opponents.

He had faced far stronger foes before.

This was merely retracing a path he had already walked.

Mike, of course, knew nothing of what was happening in the Heavenly Realm.

He cared only about the matters before him.

As humanity's Supreme Being, his first priority was to shoulder his responsibilities.

After visiting Cedric and Calderon, Mike made a trip to the Forest of Truth.

Morpheus's lingering soul had already been gathered and merged with the body in the stone coffin.

Resurrecting Morpheus would require extensive preparation.

For now, it wasn't enough.

However, allowing the soul to rest within the body would significantly reduce the difficulty of the resurrection process.

Mike placed a bouquet of fresh flowers at Shadow Nine's burial site.

It would be nearly a century before Shadow Nine could truly come back to life.

When he did, he might even be called Little Nine.

As for whether Little Nine would become the next potential Supreme Being, that remained uncertain.

Perhaps another prodigy like Ares would emerge, someone who could completely overshadow Shadow Nine.

But the odds were slim.

Mike didn't linger long.

He visited a few other places, observing old friends from a distance.

In official records, Mike's activities over the past few years were described as training with Apollo, battling in the Abyss, or meditating in seclusion.

Cain, after repeating university for years, was finally about to graduate.

His graduation project involved slaying a quasi-Chief-level demon creature.

Though the Abyss was no longer at war with humanity, the Tower of Truth's blockade had prevented the new generation of powerful humans from advancing.

In response, a few demon gods had collaborated to create a combat arena where humanity's youth could train.

The opponents were demon creatures formed from demon energy, lacking intelligence but possessing strength and combat prowess.

Over the past decade, Cain had climbed from the rank of Soldier to the peak of General.

He wasn't the fastest to progress.

Jessica had already broken through to Chief, with an impressive tier.

Among their generation, Orion was the most unstoppable, having reached Chief and poised to ascend to Lord at any moment.

Mike also found Ace.

Ace's strength had regressed significantly, dropping from Nine-Star Lord to Three-Star Lord.

Over the past ten years, Ace had finally resolved the hidden dangers that had plagued him, allowing him to start anew.

But for Ace, advancing further no longer seemed to matter.

With Calderon now crippled, Ace could crush him with a single finger.

Ace had lost interest in training and spent his days helping Joseph run a barbecue stand on the beach, watching the women stroll by.

Seeing Ace's lack of motivation, Mike appeared and said bluntly,

"Calderon's Near-Death Power Up is still active."

Ace: ???

"You mean that guy…"

"Exactly," Mike confirmed.

"I don't know how he's doing it, but I'm certain that for the past ten years, Near-Death Power Up has been continuously triggering."

Back then, Calderon had paid the heaviest price.

Even now, he was still bearing the punishment of Truth's rules.

But Calderon had a powerful talent: Near-Death Power Up.

The closer he came to death, the stronger he became.

If Truth's suppression ever lifted…

How strong would Calderon become?

It was unimaginable.

Suddenly, Ace felt a renewed sense of purpose.

He flipped over the barbecue stand and took off into the sky.

Joseph, furious, chased after him and pinned the now-Three-Star Lord Ace to the ground, forcing him to apologize.

Mike also visited Michael, now the leader of all demon cults.

Michael was still the same, stuck in mediocrity.

His disciple, James, seemed to have lost his edge, with his progress slowing to a crawl.

But Mike, with his newfound perspective, saw something different.

James's loss of sharpness hinted at immense potential.

At minimum, he was destined to become a Nine-Star Lord, possibly even stronger than Joseph.

Whether he could break through to Ultimate Lord would depend on his own fate.

After making his rounds, Mike returned to where it all began:

The Tower of Truth.