Then time resumed, and the bullet obliterated the golden-haired woman's upper body, continuing through her flesh and burrowing into the ground with such force that the very ground exploded, creating another ma.s.sive geological feature that would remain for eternity.

The crack in the earth spread dozens of kilometers ahead, towards the arch of the gateway in the distance.

You have slain Kirestra, G.o.ddess of Leaves.

You have gaine[NOTIFICATIONS SUPPRESSED]

The skies exploded, blasting the clouds apart as dozens of golden beams fell to the earth beneath. The Realm of Heaven was visible in the sky as a blurry image of pure white brilliance and golden overtones. Chanting filled the air, song carried by ephemeral voices in perfect harmony of deep and high tones.

Not even Aeon could calculate the mathematical perfection of the intervals of those tones, as they defied reason and logic. They were anathema to a machine like Somnus, who relied on mathematics and science to explain every phenomenon in the universe.

The beams coalesced into the subjugators of Heaven: Golden-armored figures with long ears and perfect appearance. Like Kirestra, their beauty could not be defined, just like the song that followed them. It defied reason and logic, owing to their otherworldly origin.

Four women and five men stood before him, all of them G.o.ds—Elven G.o.ds.

[Manifestation event recorded: MY-14-2B]

[Threat level: 10.]

[Suggested course of action: Annihilation.]

Among them, one wore a white crown with nine peaks and he spoke. "Recover the shard, Aiunia."

Aiunia stepped forward from their half-circle formation and pointed a finger at the corpse at Somnus's feet. She was pale as snow, her skin seemingly s.h.i.+mmering in the gold and moon illuminated land.

Somnus looked down at the corpse, eyes searching for this object of their interest. He could not find it.

[Objective located. Sharing data.]

Awareness flooded over his consciousness. The "shard" was not something that he could see, but he could feel it. To describe it would be an exercise in futility. It was monstrously large, yet compacted in a tiny s.p.a.ce. It was a Will, ancient and terrifyingly powerful when possessed by a living creature. It was the fractured soul of a dead G.o.d.

As Kirestra's corpse began to dissolve into motes of light, flowing into Aiunia's hand, Somnus realized what they were doing. They were trying to revive the dead G.o.ddess.

Somnus gestured with his hand towards the motes of light, exerting his terrible will through the pure medium of the Information Dimension. This was magic in its purest form: No spell circles, no mana, only his Will against the World's.

The motes of light froze in place and turned pitch black as if they were flakes of ash. Then they dissolved into black dust.

Aiunia fell to her knees, gripping at her chest, face twisted in pain. Even Somnus felt the backlash of the psychic shock when his own soul, intertwined with Aiunia's and Kirestra's, forcibly separated from something that no longer existed in this world.

"What have we done to you to deserve this?" Aiunia said, her perfect voice modulated by sorrow. "We never interfered with you or your kind. We merely sought to protect our own."

Somnus focused on Aiunia, but kept track on the others, expecting an attack at any moment now.

Aiunia narrowed her eyes. "Answer me!"

Somnus relaxed a bit, purposefully lowering his guard to invite attacks as he remained silent.

Aiunia stepped forward, walking towards Somnus. "You took our sister from us. Was death not enough of a punishment for her hubris?"

"Come back, Aiunia, do not approach that monster," the crowned G.o.d spoke.

"Death is not enough of a punishment for your crimes," Somnus said coldly.

"What crime is that?" Aiunia asked venomously, continuing to approach Somnus.

"Existing," Somnus said.

A dark shadow moved behind Aiunia, much shorter than the elven G.o.ddess, and a streak of silver light followed.

"Aiunia!" The crowned G.o.d shouted, trying to warn her, but it was too late.

The silver streak struck the defensively raised arm, carved through it and burrowed itself halfway into the G.o.ddess's chest. Aiunia's form flickered away, leaving only the hazy form of a goblin behind it, holding a silver sword.

"Det! Get premium meat!" the goblin shouted.

As Aiunia reappeared, hovering mid-air, another silver light streaked towards her, flying like a bullet. Then it went through her stomach, leaving behind a ma.s.sive hole without so much as a sound of impact or any sort of effect. It just went through her.

Aiunia fell from the sky like a bird that died in mid-flight. Golden blood oozed out of her numerous wounds, pooling beneath her.

"Moron! Det ruin meat! What Lod tell wives now?" the goblin shouted to another one, who had just caught up with his thrown weapon.

"Det scared! Why Det have to fight s.h.i.+ny One?" Det yelled back at Lod.

"Det want to fight s.h.i.+ny or Lod wife?" Lod asked.

"Apta mungkuk," Det growled something sounding like a curse in his native language and then threw his knife at the fallen G.o.ddess again. "Die s.h.i.+ny! Praise Somnus, the one true G.o.d!"

The flying knife looked like it might impact with the G.o.ddess's head and blow it away, but at the last moment it curved around her head and missed. When the knife impacted the ground, it caused such ma.s.sive devastation to remind Somnus of what a railgun sh.e.l.l impact looks like.

As Det landed on the ground, a dark s.h.i.+mmer appeared behind him, coalescing into the form of one of the nine G.o.ds.

As Somnus was about to react to protect Det, and the G.o.d raised his terrible shadow-shrouded sword, Lod appeared in front of the G.o.d and drove his silver, void-edged blade into the G.o.d's chest.

"Give meat. Do not resist," Lod said, twisting the blade and looking the G.o.d dead in the eye from his lower vantage point.

"[Prescience]?" The G.o.d asked, lips curving downward in both disgust and then fear.

"My Protecta… how?" The G.o.d looked down at the sword, fingers reaching to wrap around it as if he had just found the greatest mystery in the world. But as his fingers touched the edge of the blade, they fell off, cleaved through by the merest touch.

"Heh, Lod sword cut Dementias. G.o.d Protecta useless," Det said, turning towards the ambus.h.i.+ng G.o.d and smirking mockingly.

"Dimensions," Lod corrected Det.

Det shrugged and extended his hand towards the place where his knife impacted the ground. The knife unburrowed itself and flew back into Det's hand. When Det recovered his knife, he smiled at the G.o.d and then forced the knife-tip against the G.o.d's neck.

The knife hovered away from the G.o.d's neck, bending every which way, but always away from the neck. The knife twisted into strange and illogical shapes, but bit by bit it moved closer and closer until it finally found purchase and brutally slit open the G.o.d's throat.

"Even Ardan is now dead," said one of the G.o.ddesses as she calmly watched the goblins brutally murder one of their own. "Apparently goblins can kill one of ours now. Let me purify this world, Nahrun."

"It is not the goblins, Furia," said Nahrun, the crowned G.o.d. "It is him."

Furia looked towards Somnus and her nostrils flared angrily. "He is just a minor divinity."

"You are wrong," said another G.o.ddess. "His Court status is irrelevant. He is greater than all of us. His weapons can kill us. His followers are empowered through their loyalty and faith. Each one of them is as powerful as our greatest champions."

"I am not wrong. I shall prove it," said Furia, stepping forward.

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"Don't disobey me. Recover Aiunia and flee," Nahrun told Furia.

"I am the Alfar G.o.ddess of War," Furia said. "What would they say about me if I received his challenge and fled?"

Golden armor appeared around the black-haired elven G.o.ddess, made of glimmering, pure orichalc.u.m and inscribed with thousands of enchantments that Somnus never even considered before. Just on the first glance, he could tell that the set of plate armor was like a second skin, but offered protection comparable to that of an Autonomous Machine a.r.s.enal.

A burning, golden greatsword appeared in Furia's hands as she charged forward, hovering over the ground in defiance to gravity.

"Stop, Furia!" Nahrun shouted.

She reached Somnus in the blink of an eye, her sword breaking the sound barrier at the tip as it swung down against Somnus.

Then it stopped, meeting an invisible barrier.

"Is this what you call a Protecta?" Somnus asked, as the burning sword s.h.i.+mmered and bent in unpredictable ways in midair.

"How do you have a Protecta? You are a minor G.o.d!" Furia whispered venomously.

"Folding dimensions and pretending like it is a Divine ability," Somnus said and chuckled mockingly. "You are just an adventurer with a high level, pretending to be the master of War."

Somnus's black halo rotated lazily, like a malevolent wheel, as he spoke those words.

"I will teach you about War," he said, reaching out and wrapping his fingers around Furia's neck. He squeezed so hard, Furia's eyes bulged out and her mouth opened, lips twisted into a grimace. Even her immaculate gorget bent under the force.

"There is no escape from here. There is no hiding from me. You will all die and be forgotten," Somnus said.

Just as Somnus was about to crush her throat, Furia dispelled the armor, causing Somnus to lose his grip long enough for Furia to disappear.

He followed her movement line to the ranks of the G.o.ds, and as she appeared among them, so did Somnus. The kick that followed landed in Furia's midsection, obliterating her Protecta in a shower of iridescent ribbons and sparks, and also breaking her bones and crus.h.i.+ng her organs. She fell to the ground like a rag doll, broken and twitching in pain.

"Let us begin," Somnus said, focusing on Nahrun.