“Who are you?”
Gilgamesh could not help but ask.
“My name is Baldur, the God of Light! I heard the signal you sent to the divine realm to capture Watson and defeat the Kingdom of Kings. Is that what you said?”
The voice of the God of Light in the sky shook the world, making the Ministers’ and Gilgamesh’s ears and brains buzz.
“You only need to reply to me—yes or no.” Without waiting for Gilgamesh to speak, the god in the sky added another sentence.
“That’s right.”
“Very well, I will help you take down the Kingdom of Kings. I don’t want anything else—just Watson! Besides me, I also have five companions.”
The God in the sky waved his hand, and the massive blood-red door spun quickly. More gods soared out of it, emitting the aura of the starlight-tier. Those gods had the upper bodies of humans and the lower bodies of dragon clans with wings. Some also had bright red bodies, wearing ancient armor, and eight arms on their backs. Each arm held a different weapon.
The gods were different, and there were six of them.
Among the six gods, some had upper human bodies with lower dragon bodies. Storms and lightning wrapped around their bodies, and there was a substantial ship-shaped divine kingdom under their feet. They looked around and sighed emotionally. “We haven’t been here for a few months. In those days, we hadn’t been able to absorb any faith, and we were worried that we would enter the territory of other gods and cause conflict. Now, it’s time for revenge.”
“This time, we must destroy Watson’s kingdom and get the thing in his body!” the God with eight arms and a bright red body said vehemently.
As he spoke, the eight weapons in his hands waved incessantly, as if Watson were right in front of him and he was interrogating him with those weapons.
“Don’t be rash. The last time we failed because we were too anxious. This time, we must obtain the things in Watson’s body before deciding on the person to choose! I heard that the Kingdom of Kings has already occupied four kingdoms under Watson’s rule. Currently, the Thorn Empire is our last chance. We must keep safe,” the leader of the gods stated calmly. The other gods nodded. That scene caused the Thorn Empire ministers to be stunned.
They thought that Gilgamesh would summon the Thorn Goddess. They did not expect Gilgamesh to summon six gods that they did not know.
Some ministers began to praise Gilgamesh. “As expected of His Majesty. He is indeed powerful. Other than the Thorn Goddess, he can also summon additional gods. This way, our attack on the Kingdom of Kings will undoubtedly be more secure.”
…
Baldur talked about it with the gods beside him. As he took a deep breath, the corner of his attractive face that was veiled by the light curled upward.
It had been a long time since he had breathed in the aura of the Small World. A few months ago, he had just entered that small world once. That time, he had only entered with his soul and a part of his power, but he had parasitized the corpse that King Landhar III had prepared for him. He wanted to seize Watson’s fusion system.
Unfortunately, he had failed that time, and it had been a terrible failure.
After that failure, the six gods had been hovering outside the divine realm, trying to get a chance to reenter the small world. They could not accept being played by two humans. It was not only Watson who had plotted against King Landhar III but also the Goddess of Shadow and Potion who had betrayed them by staying in the small world. They were the targets of their revenge.
After a long wait, their efforts finally paid off. A month ago, they discovered a passage in the small world that could connect to the divine realm.
Agares, God of the Wind and Navigation, was the first to discover that passage. When he was about to enter the world, Baldur had stopped him.
Baldur had said, “That passage is open from the inside. Watson might have opened it. It’s dangerous for us to enter so rashly. Why don’t we wait and investigate the situation before going there?”
He knew that Watson had the fusion system and understood that, with the help of the system, Watson could increase his power by leaps and bounds within a short month.
They did not enter the small world through the passageway, just as he had expected. Instead, they hid in the distant void and lured other gods over. Those gods were all captured or killed without exception after entering the small world.
They even released the gods they had previously captured, luring new gods into the small world. The Blackmoon Knights also moved four massive satellites out of the small world during that process. Looking at the dark cannon barrels on the surface of the satellites, Baldur felt apprehensive in his heart.
As the king of the third era, he was in control of the most advanced technology in the world. He could tell that the technological power contained in those satellites could not be underestimated. They could instantly kill an ordinary starlight-tier god.
In addition, there were no fewer than 100,000 Blackmoon Knights who had arrived outside the small world. All of them had the power of gods. That had shocked Baldur, who had been aware of Watson’s power.
Those 100,000 gods, along with the dragons and sea folks, as well as different race chess pieces, those powers were enough to wipe them out without the power of the system. If they wanted to fight Watson, they needed more companions.
At the time, the Thorn Empire took advantage of a good opportunity by using the Divine World Tree to open the passage to the divine realm. When they were in that small world, they were not idle. They had already informed others of Watson’s possession of three race chess pieces.
The temptation to the gods might be envisioned if a mortal in a small world had a chess piece that even gods might not have. There were already numerous gods watching that area, and there was no shortage of powerful gods among them.
“This time, we must get rid of Watson,” Baldur muttered to himself.
He and his companions had only spread the news of Watson’s having the race chess pieces to the other gods, but they had not said anything about the system. They did not know whether they would use the other gods with the system.
…
On the ground, Gilgamesh endured the pain in his arm and continued to summon more gods.
He had no idea who the six gods he had just summoned were. Even if the ministers lauded him for his power, he did not believe it. What if the six gods he invoked were all evil? He called the Thorn Goddess to be safe.
With that in mind, Gilgamesh uttered a prayer similar to what he had just recited. The massive red door in the sky turned once more, and arcane magic runes lit up one by one. From within, the figure of a female God flew out.
“That should have been my ancestor, the Thorn Goddess, right?”
Gilgamesh concentrated his gaze and noticed that the new goddess in the sky possessed the body of a giant. Her neck was adorned with four heads, each with a unique expression. Many of her eyes were closed, and some of them were half-opened, exhibiting a red light. The goddess’ hair was like a living python, dancing in the air and making her look quite frightening.
“That is not my ancestor, the Thorn Goddess. Who is she?”
As he stared down at the blood gushing out of his arm, he cast a few charms in his heart. Gilgamesh turned back and stared at the sky after ensuring that there was nothing wrong with the ceremony.
There was nothing wrong with how he summoned his ancestor, the Thorn Goddess. Why could he not summon her?
In the sky…
When a new female god appeared, she walked straight to Baldur and the other six gods and raised her right hand. “It has been a long time, Baldur, God of Light.”
“Primal Demoness, I do not recall ever informing you. I did not expect you to show up. Do you wish to exact your vengeance on Watson as well?”
Baldur’s eyes, hidden under the light, narrowed.
“That is correct. After all, he sabotaged my plot with Frigga and even took away my Mask of Divinity, leading me to lose a significant amount of power. I will make him pay for it! Do not worry, what I want is not the same as what you want. You are free to take anything Watson has. I am only looking for his life. I want him to be tortured repeatedly in the future. His anguish will be the best source of food for me as I grow stronger.”
“Deal!”
The Primordial Demoness reached out with her right hand. Baldur paused before reaching out his right hand to grasp the Primordial Demoness.
During that time, the massive blood-red door in the sky had already reached its apex. It gave birth to a slew of gods. Some of the gods appeared alone, while others appeared in groups. The number of those gods gradually grew into the tens of thousands.
Before the gods arrived in that small realm, they had obviously heard Baldur’s words and knew why they were there. As a result, they did not say much.
It was unknown when Gilgamesh’s bleeding ceased. He had expended enough blood, and the Divine World Tree had settled. He did not need his blood to keep it going for an extended period. His expression was odd. He had summoned more gods than he had anticipated. However, none of the gods he had summoned was their ancestor.
Another tremendous roar erupted from the skies just as he was straining. The blood-red door exploded, and numerous gods wearing purple armor of the same style entered the small world. Some of those gods rode mythological creatures, while others had war axes dripping with blood, and they all appeared terrifying. On the heads of those gods were a few long purple horns, with a purple flame burning amid the horns. That was the Hell Barons’ symbol.
The Hell Barons’ army, which had been extinct in the small world, arrived there again. There were more than ten thousand of them, and in the middle of all the Hell Barons stood a man who was red all over and had two huge metal gauntlets on his arms. Hot white steam spurted out of the holes in the man’s gauntlets. There were nine long horns on his head, most damaged by the cuts.
“That’s the Hell’s Barons’ army. The one controlling them should be the God-king of Hell, an elite at peak starlight-tier. I did not expect you to invite such an elite!”
The Primordial Demoness looked at the man in the sky with the huge metal gauntlet and clicked her tongue.
The Hell Baron was a race in the middle and lower reaches of the God-tier. The race had preserved the entire race chess piece. The strongest elite of the race was at peak starlight-tier. Although he had not advanced to sovereign-tier, with the power of the race chess piece, he could burst with similar power for a short period.
That level was enough to be called a god-king.
After the God-king of Hell led his army of more than 10,000 hell barons, the huge red secret door turned again. At that time, another army rushed in.
Every member of the army was a yellow octopus with numerous tentacles. On its globe-shaped head, the octopus possessed three vertical eyes. Wrapped around its body and tentacles were colorful bubbles and dark mist.
An octopus far larger than the other octopuses wore a crown on its head and sat on a throne in the octopus army. Various tentacles snatched ripped flesh and crammed it into its mouth. If one looked closely, one would notice that the ripped flesh in its hands belonged to a god.
“God-king of Cthulhu, I did not expect that the Cthulhu race would also receive the news! I advise you to withdraw. The Hell Barons own three complete race chess pieces in that small world. I’m afraid that if we fight later, your race will be exterminated.”
The God-king of Hell sent a message to the giant octopus king in the distant sky.
“The Cthulhu race can be thought of as people in that solar system. It is natural for us to hear the news. However, God-king of Hell, the star location you are in, is a long way away from here. If you have brought so many people here, do not convert them into corpses and leave them here. It just so happens that I have yet to taste a Hell Baron’s flesh.”
The Cthulhu god-king stuffed the god’s flesh into his mouth and chewed on it. Blood splattered everywhere. The scene made people’s teeth ache.
The two god-kings were at loggerheads. They did not want to give in and snorted at each other.
“They are gods and not just any gods. That is the first time I’ve seen an army of gods!”
The Thorn Empire’s ministers knelt on the ground, one after the other, and peered up at the sky. Even if the gods in the heavens did not willfully release their power, their tremendous amount of life stifled them to the point where they could not breathe. Moreover, among the gods were two god-kings.
The two god-kings brought their army and descended. The light of the blood-red door in the sky was much dimmer. At that moment, the light from the door lit up again. A female god with a human upper body and a huge flower as her lower body descended from the sky. That female god had many vines dancing around her body, and each of them gave off an aura of immortality.
“It’s the Thorn Goddess!”
Someone from the Thorn Empire recognized the descending goddess’s identity. Gilgamesh’s eyes also glowed. He had assumed that the summoning ceremony would be ineffective in calling his ancestor. He had not anticipated the arrival of his ancestor at that time.
While he was overjoyed, he was also concerned. Before his ancestor, tens of thousands of gods had descended. There was also a god-king who led an army after that. Against those organized and disciplined deities, only one person could not match the Thorn Goddess.
The Thorn Goddess bowed her head and looked lovingly at the people of the Thorn Empire as though hearing his concern. Then she turned around, and the massive flowers beneath her bloomed one after the other, the vines encircling her drooped, and she bent to the top of her head.
“The Thorn Goddess welcomes the descent of the god-king.”
The formless clouds tore apart the clouds in the sky as the Thorn Goddess’ words resounded throughout the universe. The area around the blood-red door had been entirely warped, and a claw had reached out. It was difficult to put into words how massive the claw was. A single claw was equivalent to a mountain. The body of an enormous dragon appeared in the sky as the claw was exposed.
That dragon’s body encompassed the whole Thorn Empire. The covering area would be considerably larger if it stretched its wings. Giant dragons of equal size appeared one after the other behind the dragon. Those dragons were all starlight-tier.
A small girl stood on top of a dragon. The girl wore a headpiece with two dragon horns growing from it. She was dressed in a lovely long robe with tiny jade pendants dangling from it. On closer study, those jade pendants were all condensed from stars, and there were at least a hundred of them on her garments.
A hundred of them hung on her long robe, and the ripples created by the collision between them caused space to ripple.
“It’s the Dragon God! She’s here too! ”
Upon seeing the dragon girl with the crown on her head, not only the ministers of the Thorn Empire but the gods that filled the sky cried out in surprise.
The dragon race was one of the top ten races in the entire divine realm, not only in the divine realm but also in the small worlds. The Dragon God, known as the Lord of the Dragons and the King of Ten Thousand Dragons, was widely recognized as the strongest among the dragon race.
The Dragon God was at peak starlight-tier. Although she was at the peak of the starlight tier, her strength was comparable to that of the kings of the weaker races, not to mention that she had the dragon race chess piece on her.
After the Dragon God descended, the God-king of Hell and God-king of Cthulhu, who had just been quarreling, both fell silent.
They were also God-kings, great men in the deity world who had seized control of a divine kingdom. They appeared to be much weaker than the Dragon God.
“Three god-kings have descended, and one of them is the Dragon King. It seems like we won’t have a chance.” Some gods revealed regretful looks.
In the divine realm, the gods were divided into different levels, different from the small worlds. As long as someone in the small world reached the starlight tier, they could be called a god. Other than that, there was only the division between peak starlight-tier gods and god-kings. The divine realm was unique.
The gods in the divine realm were classified as low, middle, and high. The lower-class gods were gods who had only attained the starlight tier, and there were no believers in the divine kingdom to offer their faith. The middle-class gods were gods with a high status in the divine kingdom and had many followers. The upper-class gods, who were elites at peak starlight-tier, stood above them.
The god-kings, who were referred to as sovereign-tier elites, were positioned above the upper-class gods. Even if the strongest elite had not reached sovereign-tier and was only at the apex of the starlight tier, they might still be addressed as god-kings if they had a race chess piece. However, such god-kings were not the same as true god-kings.
“To be able to attract the three god-kings, including the Dragon God, to that small world proves that the small world contains a lot of resources. It might not be as simple as three complete chess pieces. We can only take their leftovers.”
A god comforted his companion, who had a dejected look on his face and also comforted himself.
“Dragon God-king Orianna, let’s make it clear beforehand that I want at least one of the three race chess pieces in that small world. Although you are very powerful, the Hell Barons are not weak either. If you want to take all the race chess pieces for yourself, I can’t agree with it,” the God-king of Hell threatened them.
“You must be joking, Your Majesty. The dragons did not come to this world to be pawns. A race like us only needs to protect the dragon race chess piece that we have. As for me, I’m not the Dragon God-king. It’s just that my fellow dragons love me and regard me as the Dragon God,” the Dragon God named Orianna replied in a calm tone.
Her remarks were heard by the God-king of Hell and God-king of Cthulhu, who were both mortified. They were merely at the peak of the starlight tier, so they should not be referred to as a god-king. They did, however, appreciate being referred to as a god-king by other gods, which might have satisfied their pride. Orianna was stronger than them, although she claimed not to be a god-king. That modesty was essentially a form of pride.
“No need to say more nonsense. No matter what Miss Orianna wants, our goal is the same—to conquer the Kingdom of Kings! As for how to distribute the race chess pieces, we’ll talk about it after we conquer them.”
The God-king of Cthulhu spat a considerable amount of flesh contained in his tentacles, took a handkerchief from an unknown location, and gracefully wiped his lips.
His words received the support of a large number of gods.
“You’re right. Before conquering the Kingdom of Kings, it’s all just talk.”
“If we discussed the distribution policy now, it would be interesting if we did not conquer the Kingdom of Kings in the end. However, that should not happen, right?”
Some of the gods nodded, while others were joking around.
“The mortal king must know the location of the Kingdom of Kings. We might as well ask him.” The God-king of Hell turned around toward the direction of Gilgamesh.
“The Kingdom of Kings is located to the west of the Thorn Empire. Our world has a total of five kingdoms. Other than the Thorn Empire, the other kingdoms are currently with the Kingdom of Kings,” Gilgamesh said as he braced himself.
“In other words, other than your kingdom, we can wantonly attack any place on this continent.” The God-king of Hell looked interested. He extended his finger toward a tall mountain in the distance that did not belong to the Thorn Empire.
The mountain, tens of thousands of kilometers away, ripped from the center, revealing a massive breach. The entire mountain caved in. The deafening noise was accompanied by billowing smoke and dust, causing everyone to shake. Those who had not reached the god-tier trembled.
“Time is precious.. Let’s hurry before this continent is trampled to pieces by the Hell Baron’s knights!”
