-----
"You don't understand," Brunhild countered, pushing back against Catarina's earlier words. "Odin's family was overwhelmingly powerful and instilled deep fear in the ancient gods, who were mostly peaceful and non-confrontational. They were terrified for their lives and simply tried to survive! Can you truly bla our ancestors for that?!"
"It was either that or death…!" Violet added. "Catarina, didn't you do the sa as a vampire? You chose to beco Sirius's servant rather than die as a human, right? Aren't you being hypocritical?"
"Tch! I've changed!" Catarina roared.
"Enough! Is this really the ti to argue among ourselves?!" Lucifer bellowed, silencing them instantly. "Let's take down the gods quickly while the Formation breaks through the barrier!"
They soared into the sky and engaged the powerful deities in battle.
"I suppose it's ti… Hercules, Annette, we're finally fighting the gods—at long last!"
"Finally!"
"Yes!"
Sirius smiled fiercely and charged forward with his two children.
anwhile, the Crimson Emperor stared upward with a conflicted expression.
He grasped a ring on his finger and was about to activate it, but…
"What do you think you're doing?!"
"What?!"
His eyes widened as Maria appeared behind him and delivered a powerful kick, sending him flying straight into the midst of a dozen gods!
"You damn…!"
As he roared in fury, the gods attacked him imdiately, unleashing divine and elental assaults from every direction.
"Damn it! You dare strike ?!"
He held his ground surprisingly well, wielding his enormous sword and drawing on his formidable abilities. Maria had learned he possessed the combined powers of every family in Umbralheim.
He could replicate nearly all their magic spells and techniques, and he wielded seemingly indestructible armor and a sword.
Though his true origins remained shrouded in mystery, Maria didn't care—he was a useful tool.
She too plunged into the fray alongside Jonathan, Scarlet, Lucifer, Nyx, and Nia, leaving the others to sustain the Formation and strike from a distance.
"Everyone, I've figured out a way to save so of the gods!" Maria called out. "I can sever their souls and preserve their consciousness within their bodies… Of course, I can't fully remove the power Odin stole, so they'll be greatly weakened—no stronger than human heroes, I imagine."
"And why would we bother?!" Lucifer demanded angrily. "I thought we were here to kill them!"
"Yes… but now that I see what's happened to them, they've already been effectively killed," Maria sighed, her voice heavy with disappointnt. "I'd rather keep them alive and humbled than let them die in this near-vegetative state!"
"…Hm," Lucifer exhaled. "And the Ancient Dragons and Titans could share valuable knowledge of the past… Damn it… you're right."
"How though?!" Scarlet asked.
"I'm joining late, but I have no idea either…!" Nia admitted.
"I've already created the technique—just copy it," Maria said. "Here!"
She summoned nine Dream Ghosts and allowed them to rge into their minds, accelerating their thoughts and sharing the knowledge directly.
As this happened, they broke through the barrier and entered the chaotic divine battlefield raging outside.
While Odin used his power to resist the Formation's advance toward his true body, he simultaneously controlled every god here like puppets.
He conjured dozens of divine hands and heads from the sky and manipulated the heavens themselves to crush everyone with relentless force.
"Alright, let's do this!" Maria roared.
She danced through the sky, her Sword Soul Heart flashing as she swung with precise, devastating strikes aid at their souls.
"{Spectral Ghostly Fist Art: Fifteenth Form – Dream-Soaring Blade}"
The technique she had described was exactly this one—not entirely new but modified with a special form that could achieve her goal.
With a single swing, as she clashed against a goddess ford of wooden roots and branches, she severed the connection between the goddess's remnant consciousness and Odin!
SLAAASH!
"Ah!"
The goddess instantly regained awareness, looking around in confusion before a sharp pain hit her. She scread in terror.
"Noooo! Get awayyyyy! Don't eat , you monster!!!"
That reaction was expected—she still carried the vivid mory of being devoured by Odin.
Maria quickly cast a Dream Spell to put her to sleep and drew her into the Shadow Realm.
"Co, all of you! I am Maria—your greatest enemy… or rather, Odin's! Didn't you want to kill so badly?!"
"MARIAAAAAAAA!!!"
Odin's voice thundered from every possessed god as they attacked Maria simultaneously, roaring like zombies while firing beams of elental light and swinging divine artifacts.
Maria was constantly forced back, but with her sword she cut through their souls, rapidly freeing more and more deities!
SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!
As they awoke to the nightmare, Maria swiftly put them to sleep and cast them into her Shadow Realm.
Sirius and the Crimson Emperor, however, showed no such rcy.
"Hahahaha! Die!"
Sirius laughed wildly as he crushed the heads and bodies of gods with overwhelming force.
Yet beams of light from Odin constantly harassed him, spoiling his enjoynt.
"Tch! Odin! You damn bastard, you're making this far less fun!"
The Crimson Emperor had slain many gods as well, but the fallen ones regenerated and attacked again!
This was happening to several others who had killed them.
Odin had not only turned them into puppets—he had rendered them effectively immortal.
They regenerated endlessly to full strength, making it maddeningly difficult!
Ultimately, Maria's thod proved superior: by severing their link to Odin, she left them vulnerable at last.
"Weaken the gods and bring them to !"
Maria called for cooperation. While dodging Odin's beams and grasping hands, the others nodded and rushed to assist.
They delivered every god they could capture. Maria swiftly cut through dozens of souls at a ti.
Odin sensed sothing wrong. His countless heads lunged toward Maria, trying to bite her entire body.
She responded with her sword, slicing through the giant faces and splitting them apart again and again.
An oppressive force constantly pressed against her—the entire realm, every molecule, sought to destroy her.
"He's doing sothing similar to what I discovered…!" Maria thought, clashing against the endless manifestations of Odin. "No, the Living Nightmare Dinsion did the sa thing… This ans Outer Gods naturally possess the ability to rge with space, even an entire dinsion, and expand endlessly through it…!"
As Maria struggled against the relentless Odin and began to tire, the final gods were hurled toward her.
Lucifer and Nyx kicked them down—roughly four ancient dragons who had served under Odin all this ti.
"He had so many gods! This could have been such a glorious war if he hadn't done this—damn coward!"
Maria's fury surged. She cut through the dragons' souls and freed them from Odin. They panicked, roaring wildly before she forced them into slumber and cast them into her Shadow Realm.
"We're done—let's go back!"
Maria rushed back with the others, ensuring their safe return!
However…
"WHAT…! WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY GODS?! GIVE BACK MY GODS! MY GODS! MINE! MINE! THEY ARE MINEEEEE!"
"Damn decrepit old man! They were never yours! Look at the fucking ss you've made! You ruined everything!"
"YOU RUINED EVERYTHING! YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOUYOUYOUYOUYOUUUUUU!!!"
Odin descended into pure madness. He seized Maria's legs and yanked her back.
His divine light, a fusion of all the stolen divinities, burned through her body and soul with terrifying ease!
"Nnngh!"
-----
User Comments
0 comments from readers