Chapter 205

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Chapter 205: Overwhelming with SP (3)

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The Jade Emperor’s body turned completely white and then exploded.

Along with him, the Daoist deities also exploded in a chain reaction.

Pale white flames bloomed and engulfed the entire space.

‘The Soul God… After becoming a High Deity…!’

The Soul God had ascended to SSS-rank.

That moment changed everything.

Before that, there had still been a chance at victory…

But now, only one path remained.

And even that was uncertain.

“Formation!”

At Ares’s shout, the war gods raised their shields and formed a tight formation.

Though the situation was sudden, they completed the formation in the blink of an eye.

“Divine Protection of the War Gods.”

“Divine Protection of the War Gods.”

“Soul Barrier.”

“Soul Barrier.”

They activated the Divine Protection skill and layered Soul Barriers over their shields.

Ordinarily, it would be nearly impossible to break through this formation.

BOOM! BOOM!

Explosions continued in succession.

Not just the Jade Emperor, but all the deities who followed him were exploding.

With the shockwaves roaring from all directions, SP drained rapidly.

Crackle. Crackle…

The formation of the gods trembled, and cracks formed on the Soul Barriers.

‘At this rate, there will be casualties.’

Gritting his teeth, Ares summoned his spear.

Whoosh. Whoosh.

He held his shield in his left hand and spun his spear in his right like a windmill.

Soon, the spear transformed into a large shield and blocked the shockwaves in stages.

BOOM. BOOM. BOOM!

Explosions came from all directions, but the strongest impact came from the Jade Emperor in front.

When Ares preemptively blocked it, the trembling formation regained stability.

FWOOOSH—

When the explosions ceased, what followed was a white soul flame.

Compared to the previous blasts, the flames weren’t too powerful; they could endure them without even swinging their weapons.

“Is everyone safe?”

“Our vanguard is safe… but we’ve received no word from the rear.”

“The Hindu and Buddhist collaborators were all caught in the explosion, and even the portals we opened couldn’t be maintained.”

Ares listened to the report from his subordinate with a stoic expression.

‘I had expected this once the Jade Emperor exploded… but the situation’s not looking good. Still, there’s a path to victory.’

Invasions into the three divine realms were blocked, and operations on Earth weren’t going smoothly either.

But a faint chance of victory remained.

“Search the ruins of the Jade Emperor’s palace for the Divine Realm Core. Though he died, the Jade Emperor likely hasn’t been completely erased yet.”

“Understood.”

The grand palace of the Jade Emperor was gone, replaced by a world engulfed in white flames.

With the master of the Divine Realm gone, the divine system would soon collapse.

They had to secure the core before that happened.

‘We must find it before the trail fades.’

The Divine Realm Core.

The object Zeus had ordered secured, and what Ares believed to be the key to victory.

Zeus hadn’t said what it was for, but in any case, it had to be secured.

“The Jade Emperor said he’d hand it over here, so begin searching this area. We have to find it before the world collapses.”

“Yes, sir.”

At Ares’s command, the Olympus gods disbanded their formation and began the search.

Ares himself pushed through the white flames, seeking the core.

—The Authority of the Sun God.

Until that voice echoed, the situation had been going smoothly.

The Hindu and Buddhist forces were all fighting energetically, supplied with SP.

Enemies barely emerged through the now-diminished portals, only to be crushed instantly.

“Ares held up better than expected…”

Even though the Jade Emperor and all his followers exploded at once, Ares took little damage.

His elite troops had formed a solid formation, so most of the vanguard survived.

The rear had been wiped out, and the portals destroyed, but that group seemed to be the best of the best.

A shame, really.

As the explosion subsided, I watched them through the flames.

The explosion had been triggered by my SP.

Even the flames born from that blast allowed me to share senses like a human—seeing and hearing them.

I thought Ares’s unit would flee.

All the Daoist gods who had tried to cooperate had exploded, and the Divine Realm was collapsing with the Jade Emperor’s death.

But contrary to expectations, they broke formation and began frantically searching for something.

They said they had to secure the Divine Realm Core.

“The Divine Realm Core, huh.”

I didn’t know what it looked like or what it was for, but if Ares was searching so desperately, there had to be a reason.

Time to interfere.

I expanded my senses and awakened a clone in the divine underworld.

Thanks to defensive measures, the clone’s body had survived the explosions intact.

Now, I would use that body as my own.

“The Authority of the Sun God.”

I rose into the sky and rained down light upon Ares’s now-scattered troops.

With infinite SP, I will overwhelm them with sheer force and wipe them all out.

“Soul Barrier!”

At the sudden light attack, Ares’s troops raised their shields in unison.

Made up mostly of mid-level deities, they were an elite force.

“It’s the Soul God!”

“He’s above us in the sky. This power… it’s Lord Apollo’s!”

“Ugh. Hold him off! Units 1 and 2, head to the sky!”

Even under threat, Ares’s troops responded swiftly.

They soared into the air like missiles, wielding spears and shields.

Twenty in total.

Each carried immense power…

“I’ll make them like Icarus.”

Icarus.

The one who flew too high with wings of wax, only to fall when the wax melted.

Just like their myth, I would give them the same fate.

“Grrrgh…!”

“Such tremendous soul power… the barriers… they’re breaking!”

The twenty war gods were engulfed in light.

At first, they tried to resist, but ultimately, the difference in power overwhelmed them.

It was a battle they could never win—the SP gap was too great.

Without worrying about my SP, I unleashed my power freely.

They had no chance.

“Urgh… To die like this…!”

“God of War… please complete the mission…!”

One by one, the gods burned away.

A few, just before death, hurled their spears in a final act of defiance…

But none reached me.

Whoosh.

Except for one—one black spear.

“Soul Barrier.”

BOOM!

Light was completely sliced through, and the barrier was torn apart in an instant.

[The Soul Barrier was restored.]

[The Soul Barrier was restored.]

[The Soul Barrier was restored.]

After being torn apart and restored three times, the attack finally stopped.

Even though skill efficiency had drastically improved after becoming a god, it was torn three times...?

There was only one being capable of such an attack.

“The God of Souls. I shall face you.”

Ares, clad in pitch-black full-body armor.

He hadn’t been wearing it earlier—when had he equipped it?

“You can withstand the light.”

“Your authority—ultimately, it’s Apollo’s, isn’t it? Of course I’m familiar with it.”

Ares tapped his armor lightly with his fingers.

“Transform.”

Then, his divine form vanished from sight.

No—how could he disappear while the authority of the Sun God was active?

Chiiiiik.

[The Soul Barrier was restored.]

The top of my head was sliced.

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[The Soul Barrier was restored.]

My left chest was stabbed.

[The Soul Barrier was restored.]

[The Soul Barrier was restored.]

[The Soul Barrier was restored.]

Restoration messages continued to pop up.

Head, neck, left chest, arms, legs...

Every part of my clone’s body was being attacked.

One strike became two, two became three...

An endless storm of blows rained down.

Each and every one shattered the barrier.

If SP hadn’t been infinite, the clone’s limbs would’ve already been severed, and the soul body would’ve been completely reduced to dust.

Just how many attacks had landed in that short span?

“Soul sword Summon.”

Gripping my blade, I focused on battling Ares.

Though he was the God of War, he was still just an ordinary deity.

Since gaining unlimited SP, I hadn’t paid him much attention.

But being overwhelmed this one-sidedly was irritating.

I had to at least defeat someone like him with ease, if I was going to take down Zeus...!

Crackkk!

While the shield was being torn, I tried to locate Ares.

Though I could usually detect movement through each beam of light, Ares’s position remained strangely elusive.

In that case, I had to anticipate where the next attack would come from.

Whirr!

I extended tendrils in all directions and covered every angle of defense with my Soul sword.

Clang! Clang!

“Hm...!”

Weapons clashed in an instant.

Though he dodged the Sun God’s authority with ease, it seemed the Soul sword and tendrils weren’t so easily avoided.

In a contest of raw power, he couldn’t win with the SP gap!

Schlaaash!

A tendril was cleaved in half.

But it regenerated instantly, sealing off the path again.

My defense was solid—if only I could land a hit...

But I still couldn’t sense where he was attacking from.

Even as a god who could observe multiple worlds at once, I couldn’t locate Ares, who was right in front of me.

He was less like a god of war and more like an assassin.

If I couldn’t find him... then I’d deal with his underlings first.

“Sun God’s Authority.”

To focus on Ares’s offensive, I had neglected the power of the sun for a moment.

Now I summoned it again.

Ignoring the attacks from the side, I searched for and incinerated his subordinates one by one.

Fwoooosh.

Ares’s followers burned and vanished, one after another.

They tried to block the sky with shields, but the intensified authority of the Sun God was too much.

“Guh... God of Souls...!”

Ares’s onslaught grew fiercer.

But so what?

My attacks didn’t land, but neither did his break through.

While blocking his strikes, I eliminated the enemies below one at a time.

“Grrr...!”

“My lord... grant me permission to become Black Thunder...!”

As more of Ares’s subordinates were taken down, one of them suddenly made a strange request.

Permission to become Black Thunder?

“So it has come to this... Very well. I grant it.”

Ares’s voice sounded hollow and resigned.

Upon his approval, the soul forms of his subordinates were instantly enveloped in black lightning.

Crackle!

“Seek it... find the core of the Divine Realm...!”

They still had some reason left, it seemed.

Well, they had gotten a bit stronger.

They were holding out better against the Sun God’s authority than before.

“Sun God’s Authority.”

But still... I just needed to inject more SP.

Even transformed into Black Thunder, they were still mid-tier deities.

Unlike Ares, they didn’t possess strange or exceptional abilities—there was no way they could withstand it.

“Ugh... Aaaaaah...”

“Even as Black Thunder...!”

Ares’s subordinates wailed in despair as they vanished.

Once even they began to disappear, Ares ceased his attacks and vanished.

That bastard.

Where did he go?

Did he give up trying to stop me and go search for the Divine Core instead?

Rumble—

The divine realm began to collapse.

The ground cracked apart, and the sky seemed to shrink.

A vast world was slowly condensing to a single point.

At this rate, it would likely all collapse within ten minutes...

“I’d better start searching too.”

Without letting my guard down, I slowly descended.

The Divine Core...

What could it look like, if the gods had searched for it endlessly without success?

I lit the entire land with sunlight, but nothing resembling a core stood out.

Maybe because the Jade Emperor was dead, there wasn’t even a noticeable center radiating SP.

Where was I supposed to go?

Hmm...

Was it underground?

If so, light wouldn’t reach it...

Should I go down in soul form to search?

Ah, right. I’ve got plenty of SP anyway.

"Portal, open."

I opened a portal and began mass-producing clones from the main body.

One, ten, up to a hundred clones appeared.

The authority of the Sun God didn’t grow stronger with multiple users, but search operations were a different story.

One clone emitted light continuously, while the other ninety-nine were deployed to the ground.

Whoosh!

[Soul Barrier is restored.]

[Restoration halted by a mysterious force.]

“Ugh… cough!”

One of my clones was pierced by a spear the moment it landed on the ground.

Huh… the Soul Barrier was destroyed?

It regenerated automatically but then stopped—why?

The clone, with a spear through its chest, slowly disintegrated.

Just before it vanished, I analyzed the energy.

That power…

It strangely matched Zeus’s dark thunder.

Zeus’s power… or perhaps the Creator’s?

A chill ran down my spine.

If that had hit my real body instead of a clone, it could’ve been a fatal blow.

I had plenty of SP, but the clone’s soul form disappeared—it wasn’t normal.

“A clone, huh. How troublesome.”

Ares appeared silently from the ground, watching my disappearance.

That guy—he’s more of an assassination god than a war god.

But only one out of a hundred was killed.

And they were all just clones, so it was fine.

“Spread the tendrils!”

I could only wield one Soul Sword, but each clone had its own tendrils.

They spread out in all directions to keep Ares in check while searching for the Core of the Divine Realm.

Ares looked annoyed as he saw my army of clones.

“How many clones do you have…? Do you really have that much SP to spare?”

“Yeah. I’ve got a shit ton, you bastard. More importantly, how did you pierce my barrier?”

“Would I really reveal that to an enemy?”

“Fair enough.”

Of course not.

I fired tendrils toward the direction of the sound.

They were immediately sliced away.

Then Ares vanished again, slipping out of sight.

Unlike in the sky, this time black sparks crackled and disappeared along with him.

That guy...

Did he become black thunder?

Given the strength of his attacks, something was definitely off.

“For now, the Celestial Core.”

Even a hundred clones might not be enough.

I kept creating and sending in more.

Whoosh.

Another clone vanished, its barrier shattered.

Its tendrils failed to regenerate, and it took a direct hit.

“Gh…”

But it didn’t matter.

Let him kill them.

My clones would keep pouring in.

“Grrr… Soul God! Enough already!”

“Second wave incoming.”

My clones kept falling to Ares’s spear and sword.

Over forty were gone already.

But the number of clones had tripled to 300.

Still no sign of that damn Core, but with this many, I should be getting close…

Shlak, shlak.

The sound of tendrils being sliced was now a routine.

I ignored it and kept digging through the ground with everything I had.

Then—tuk.

I felt something catch.

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