Back within the Tower of Rebirth, the now bloodied and grievously wounded Marduk construct knelt before Konrad, barely holding onto its staff. Due to its profound weakness, it trembled to lift its alarmed eyes toward Konrad's face.
Jade light swirled around Konrad while the pressure of four Divine Physiques and one high-grade Holy Physique erupted from his form.
His eyes were now pure gold while his hairs shone in a lustrous jade-green and the red prism mark on his forehead glittered.
"Y-you…w-what kind of monstrosity are you? Even a nephilim can't possibly be this…dreadful!"
The Marduk construct exclaimed, indignation clearly rippling within its eyes.
A disastrous defeat. This was a complete and disastrous defeat! At the same cultivation level, while wielding the real Marduk's lineage weapon, physiques and Dao foundation, in less than thirty moves, it was abused till it no longer had the strength to fight back.
Even tapping in the Tower's strength couldn't alter this result!
Absurd.
This was simply absurd!
Even Selene with her extensive experience, was absolutely horrified. Although she hypothesized the union of the three bloodlines would endow Konrad with incomparable abilities, this result was still leagues above her expectations.
After all, Konrad was the first triple lineage nephilims in the history of the Three Realms. There wasn't enough data to accurately estimate his strength growth.
"Apologies, but urgent business requires my attention. Business that will need the full assistance of the Tower. Therefore, you are in the way, and should perish as soon as possible."
Konrad coolly replied before aiming his right palm toward the Marduk construct's forehead.
"Innate Skill: Extinction."
As soon as the word left Konrad's lips, jade-green light erupted from his palm to brighten the icy room.
The light swept the Marduk construct's body, and before it could say anything else, it crumbled in light particles, vanishing from existence.
"You…could have destroyed him in one move."
A bewildered Selene realized.
"Indeed. But I wanted to try out some of my new skills beforehand. A pity, but at least the bloodline harmonization is now truly complete. I suppose we should now baptize my new lineage."
Konrad replied, and as soon as the Marduk construct vanished, violent tremors shook the Tower of Rebirth.
From the ninth all the way down to the first, none escaped.
"Congratulations on defeating the last obstacle. As per the founders' will, you can bind the Tower of Rebirth to your soul and become its new master.
This…is the final reward."
A voice rang within Konrad's mind, the same as the one that assessed his team's faith upon entrance.
"Are you the Tower's spiritual consciousness?"
He inquired. Unlike lower-ranked tools, complete God-Artifacts possessed their own spiritual consciousness and could either accept or reject a master.
This also allowed them to exert a significant portion of the artifact's strength, even without the owner's help.
Of course, there were ways to force obedience, such as locking or enslaving said consciousness.
"I am indeed. And I suppose that from now on, I will have to call you master."
The Tower of Rebirth replied while a black and white sphere appeared beneath the ceiling and dropped before Konrad.
Without hesitation, green strands flew from Konrad's forehead to merge with the black and white sphere. Dazzling light erupted from its core, and instantaneously, all things and rules within the Tower became Konrad's to do with as he saw fit.
The sphere then vanished in light particles.
"What do you plan to do regarding the awakening deity?"
"Put him to good use."
Konrad calmly answered the Tower's inquiry. Then stepped closer toward the central ice block.
Within his right hand, he summoned an ordinary-looking grey bottle, his Soul Gourd, then aimed his left hand toward the Incubus God.
Channeling the Tower's strength, a black and white ray erupted from his fingertip and dived into the ice block.
*Crack* *Crack* *Crack*
Starting with its center, fissures appeared all around the ice block which then shattered in dozens of ice crystals, revealing the body of a breathtakingly handsome middle-aged man with mid-long jet-black hairs and a porcelain white skin.
As if sealed by his comatose state, no cultivation rippled from the man's form. But as soon as the ice collapsed, his eyelids trembled, the simple movement releasing an earthshaking force able to split mountains and rivers.
If they so wished, Minor Gods could obliterate mortal planets with a wave of their hands. Although this one couldn't use one-hundred-thousandth of his real powers, the blink of an eyelid was more than enough to lay waste on the Holy Continent.
But warded by the Tower, Konrad suffered no damage. And while the Incubus God awoke from his one-million-years long slumber, Konrad waved his left hand.
A massive hexagram appeared above the Incubus God, releasing a deluge of black and white lightning that hammered his sluggish body from above.
Chains of the same color then descended and bypassed his flesh to dive into his back, limbs, and skull.
At that time, his eyes opened, revealing striking purple hues twisted by fury.
With his consciousness returned, the Incubus God didn't even need to shift his gaze to know that only Konrad stood within the room.
His eyes locked upon him. But feeling that undisguised Rising Saint cultivation, scorn settled within. As a Demon God, even under the worse circumstances imaginable, he couldn't find the will to show a Rising Saint respect.
Such a deed was far beyond his abilities.
At the same time, he didn't believe Konrad to be the one behind his current predicament and immediately took him as one of Marduk's servant boys.
"Marduk lad, although your fall from grace is certain, with your lineage, do you really need to play such petty mind games? Show yourself!"
The Incubus God exclaimed, completely ignoring Konrad whose eyes shone with an amused glint. Marduk was born at the Divine Seed Rank and reached the peak of Divine Ascension in less than one-hundred years. Therefore, during the events one-million years ago, on the Infernal Realm's standards, he was just a boy.
Meanwhile, that God had no notion of the lost time. His memories stopping at the instant Marduk defeated and sealed him.
"Interesting."
Konrad whispered while taking another step toward the pinned God.
"Marduk is long gone. This place is now ruled by me. And you're about to give me your body and soul."
Konrad explained with an amiable smile.
The Soul Gourd flew from his hands to hover before the restrained God. He then joined his hands, causing the black and white chains to start extracting the God's soul.
"Wait…your face…eye and hair color aside, why do you look so similar to his…"
The now startled God began. But before he could finish his words or register the gravity of Konrad's intel, the chains started their work, extracting his soul in a torturously slow process.
As the soul left his body, his pupils lost color, and his body went limp.
Extracted by the chains, a purple soul version of the God now hovered above its body. Fright shone within his eyes.
"…the energy signature is incomprehensible. But the figure speaks myriads. You are his majesty's son.
Long before his ascension as southern king, my house pledged allegiance to lord Talroth. In my youth, I served within his majesty's legions and am now one of prince Malkam's retainers. There is neither hatred nor enmity between us. Better, we belong to the same camp.
Why? Why must you harm me?"
The confused God asked with rising indignation.
"Because you are a stepping stone. And a remarkably useful one at that. Worry not. I don't destroy without purpose…usually. Your fall is…meaningful."
Konrad straightforwardly replied, then lowered his right index. The Soul Gourd opened, with its cap flying toward Konrad's hand.
Irresistible suction force burst from the Gourd to trap the God's soul and swallow it within."
"NOOOOOO!"
He roared and thrashed against his fate, but with the Tower's chains biding him and his current feeble state, he could change nothing.
His soul fell into the Gourd, and Konrad sealed it with the cap.
He then shattered the other ice blocks and collected the seven God's corpses.
"First step complete.
Step Two: Army Building."
Konrad stated in a casual tone, then turned heels to reappear within the sixth floor where his harem members trained.
