There was no doubt that, when facing Kaiser, Sun Wukong was at an absolute disadvantage right from the start.
Even before becoming a Campione, Kaiser already possessed the power to slay gods purely by his own ability, not relying on coincidence, luck, or miracles like the other Campiones—this already set him apart.
After becoming a Campione, Kaiser underwent a complete evolution and transformation, both inside and out. Furthermore, due to possessing the Circle of Usurpation and the Hōgyoku, each time he successfully slew a god, aside from obtaining an Authority, all of the remaining power of the sacrificed god would be transformed into Magical Power and absorbed, enhancing his own Magical Power and his uniqueness as a Campione. This made him ever more extraordinary, ever more transcendent.
Therefore, his current power definitely did not fall short of the combined strength of all other Campiones in the world—he might even be stronger!
As a result, even though Sun Wukong had accumulated formidable strength, he was still firmly suppressed by Kaiser, nearly getting slain directly.
In such a situation, being at an overwhelming disadvantage, and facing an opponent whose Magical Power might surpass that of all the other Campiones combined, Sun Wukong's Ancient Covenant unconsciously fulfilled its activation conditions.
Thus, Sun Wukong became stronger the more he fought, transforming more and more—all because he had activated the Ancient Covenant and drawn power from the heavens, earth, and myriad stars.
"I'm super strong now. Feels like even that old geezer Tathāgata came, I could smash him to death with a single blow!"
Sun Wukong said such an outrageously boastful statement, yet the Magical Power surging from his body was, as he claimed, unbelievably strong.
"Fellow Campione, you no longer stand a chance."
Sun Wukong confidently declared.
However...
"Saying you're fat, and now you're panting too, huh?"
Kaiser didn't become nervous due to Sun Wukong's unprecedented surge in power. On the contrary, he became extremely calm.
"Could it be that you think, this is the full extent of my power?"
As he spoke, Kaiser not only put away the Golden Sword that had been radiating across the entire sky, but also withdrew the magic clubs Yagrush and Aymur.
"Whoosh!"
The next moment, a pair of pure white wings of light appeared behind Kaiser.
"Boom!"
As the pure white Magical Power transformed into flames, burning fiercely on Kaiser's body and soaring into the sky, his form began to change drastically.
Spotless, immaculate armor emerged on his body, blue jewels adorned various parts, a steel-like dragon tail extended from his back, and his eyes flickered with a cold light, both fierce and holy.
"Divine Dividing—Balance Break!"
A sacred form appeared in this heaven and earth.
"That dragon-serpent form from back then?"
Sun Wukong immediately recalled the events in the Netherworld Corridor.
Back then, it was in this form that Kaiser had shattered the spell that bound the Keeper of the Horses and freed him.
Recalling the power of that moment, Sun Wukong's heart grew heavy, but his mouth still shouted provocatively.
"To use the power of the dragon-serpent against the Steel Sword God—what foolish behavior!"
That did make some sense.
As the Steel Sword God, Sun Wukong was undoubtedly the natural enemy of dragon-serpents, the subjugator of dragons.
Against a Steel Sword God like him, the power of dragon-serpents was naturally at a disadvantage. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say it was completely countered.
"With my current strength, a mere dragon-serpent—I'll crush it with a flip of my hand!"
As the words fell, Sun Wukong raised his palm and, like chanting a sutra, began reciting a Kotodama.
"I am a follower of steel, a god born beneath the stars to vanquish dragon-serpents!"
"O Seven Stars of the Northern Sky, grant your divine manifestation!"
"O serpent, O dragon, offer your flesh and bones to me!"
This was a Kotodama to enhance Sun Wukong's divinity as a Sword God.
Under the effect of this Kotodama, all of Sun Wukong's Magical Power transformed into a venom specifically lethal to dragon-serpents. Just its emergence alone would cause excruciating pain in any being with the Divinity or powers of dragon-serpents.
"O flame, smelt iron into steel! O hammer, forge steel into blade! O pure water, cool the blade!"
Sun Wukong raised the Ruyi Jingu Bang high and loudly chanted.
"O treasured radiance encompassing heaven and earth, O divine sword harmonizing yin and yang—cut down all calamities, reveal righteousness through destruction!"
At this moment, the Ruyi Jingu Bang in Sun Wukong's hand was imbued with the divine power to slay dragon-serpents—this was the Steel for God-Slaying Dragon-Serpents.
But just as Sun Wukong was about to act, a white figure trailing a long streak of light suddenly streaked in at an astonishing speed.
"So fast…!"
Sun Wukong's expression changed drastically. Without hesitation, he entered the realm of god-speed, moving with lightning-fast velocity to dodge the incoming white figure.
"Boom!"
The white figure suddenly vanished, as if it had disappeared into space. Accompanied by the sound of space distortion, it abruptly appeared in front of Sun Wukong.
"Bang!"
A fist clad in white armor struck fiercely, landing squarely on the Ruyi Jingu Bang that Sun Wukong hastily raised. A shockwave exploded outward, blasting him away.
"So heavy!"
Sun Wukong felt as if he had been struck by Mount Five Fingers that once suppressed him. Even the hand holding the Ruyi Jingu Bang was trembling.
You must understand—he was Sun Wukong, the unbreakable, indestructible being with a body of steel and head of bronze. To shake his hand like that—what kind of overwhelming strength did it take?
"Extend! Ruyi Bang!"
Sun Wukong could only shout, extending the Ruyi Jingu Bang, which suddenly elongated and simultaneously expanded in size. In the blink of an eye, it became a sky-piercing pillar hundreds of meters thick, smashing toward the white figure.
"Half Dimension!"
Yet the white figure neither dodged nor evaded. Instead, he spread the wings of light on his back, channeling the power of dragons, sending out invisible waves.
The waves swiftly struck the incoming Ruyi Jingu Bang, causing it to shrink at an astonishing rate.
First halved, then halved again, and again, and again...
Very soon, the Ruyi Jingu Bang shrank rapidly within the invisible dragon wave, until it became a sewing needle.
"What?!"
Sun Wukong was utterly shocked.
"Boom!"
Then, with a spatial twist, the white figure reappeared behind Sun Wukong.
"Bang!"
A white punch crashed onto Sun Wukong's body, releasing tremendous power that made him instantly cough up blood.
"Campione!"
Sun Wukong's explosive temper was immediately ignited. He turned his head and opened his mouth, unleashing an exceptionally scorching breath of fire directly at Kaiser.
That flame's heat was far beyond ordinary fire—probably even rivaling the legendary Samadhi True Flame.
Perhaps, this was the Samadhi True Flame.
The white figure raised his arms, crossing them in front of himself, engulfed by the flames.
"Divide!"
Suddenly, within the searing flames, a voice echoed.
"Divide!" "Divide!" "Divide!" "Divide!" "Divide!"...
As the chant echoed again and again, the flames engulfing the white figure began to shrink, until they were completely extinguished.
"What?" Sun Wukong's Fiery Eyes widened. As if seeing through something, he exclaimed in shock, "You absorbed my power?!"
He clearly saw that the Samadhi True Flame he had spewed wasn't just extinguished—it had been forcibly absorbed, channeled into Kaiser's body through those wings of light.
The aura radiating from Kaiser instantly surged. His voice rang from within the white helmet.
"I only absorbed the flames. That's not quite the same as absorbing your power."
Saying this, Kaiser extended his hand toward Sun Wukong.
"This is what absorbing your power really looks like."
One by one, the blue jewels on Kaiser's body all began to chant in unison.
"Divide!" "Divide!" "Divide!" "Divide!" "Divide!"...
Invisible draconic waves spread, enveloping the entire sky.
Then, Sun Wukong was shocked to discover that the power within him was rapidly diminishing.
The power gained from the Ancient Covenant was vanishing quickly. Even the strength he had painstakingly accumulated was fading. None of his original power remained untouched—it was all draining away.
In contrast, the white figure before him surged with power. His strength climbed rapidly, stirring the wind, surging the clouds, changing heaven and earth, and trembling the atmosphere.
With Kaiser becoming a Campione and slaying gods again and again, growing stronger each time, Divine Dividing's power not only increased, its energy cost decreased, its burden lightened, and even various other aspects improved.
The explosive power gained during Balance Break had significantly grown. Even the capacity to absorb enemy power during Divide had greatly increased.
Divine Dividing's absorption has limits—it cannot infinitely absorb halved power. Once it reaches its limit, excess power is discharged from the wings to reduce the artifact's burden.
But Kaiser's Divine Dividing stores the excess power within the Sacred Gear. When the absorbed power reaches its time limit and fades, that stored power is instantly transferred into Kaiser, further enhancing him.
Yet this absorption and enhancement still has a limit.
Even if Kaiser's Divine Dividing's limit is much higher than the original, there is still an upper bound.
And now, that limit had been raised considerably, to the point that even after absorbing all of Sun Wukong's power, it still hadn't been reached.
"This power—come taste it yourself."
Kaiser extended his hand toward Sun Wukong.
"Half Dimension!"
At this moment, the domain that halves volume fell upon Sun Wukong.
"Graaaaaaaaah...!"
Amid Sun Wukong's agonized howls, his steel body seemed to be crushed by an invisible force, like being flattened by a giant unseen hand—turned into minced flesh.
"Whoosh!"
Yet the minced-flesh Sun Wukong still moved, transforming into light and entering the god-speed realm, fleeing at full speed into the distance.
He... was retreating.
"Even that ancient Ancient Covenant power could be absorbed… Fellow monster! Old Sun will remember you!"
Sun Wukong's voice echoed from afar.
"Let me recuperate a bit, then I'll fight you for three hundred rounds again!"
This was clearly a harsh threat.
Though it sounded a little desperate, Sun Wukong had always been this mischievous. Even in Journey to the West, on the road to fetch scriptures, he often retreated like this to recover, only to return later for another challenge.
Only, when that time comes, the monkey wouldn't just bring the Ruyi Jingu Bang—he'd also bring all kinds of reinforcements.
So for Sun Wukong, retreating for now wasn't unacceptable. As long as he won in the end, that was enough.
Unfortunately, he didn't see that the moment he fled, Kaiser had already removed the flawless white armor, even storing away the wings of light.
Floating midair with the help of Gravisheath's gravity manipulation, Kaiser now held in his hand a divine spear radiating sacred might.
"This time, you won't escape."
The Gungnir that had once been knocked away by Sun Wukong was now directly summoned back by Kaiser.
Once a weapon acknowledged by the Ultimate Authority Over Weapons, unless it's in another fantasy world, no matter if it falls into hell, the abyss, another dimension or alternate space, it can always be instantly summoned back to Kaiser.
"Go—Gungnir."
The Eternal Spear, inscribed with ancient runes, was hurled with great force by Kaiser.
"Buzz!"
As the atmosphere vibrated, the hurled divine spear became a shooting star, streaking through the sky, guided by fate—racing toward the fleeing streak of light.
"Damn it!"
Sensing the danger closing in from behind, Sun Wukong shouted in alarm.
But now, he no longer had the power to swat away Gungnir.
"Splurt!"
Soon after, the shooting star tore through the sky, piercing through the streak of light—also piercing through the half-crippled body of the Great Sage Equal to Heaven.
"...Is this... the end of me?"
Returning to his true form, Sun Wukong muttered in a daze, as the divine spear's power rapidly extinguished the life within him, obliterating it completely.
"Whoosh!"
Kaiser stepped forward with Shunpo, instantly appearing behind Sun Wukong. He grabbed the Gungnir impaled in his body and mercilessly drew it out.
Then, with a wave of his hand, the Circle of Usurpation flew out, hovering above Sun Wukong's head, spinning rapidly.
The dark grand sorcery activated.
The Black Christmas Rite commenced.
The ritual to birth a Campione, to usurp divine might from a god, immediately began to operate.
For Kaiser, this was already the sixth time—not worth being surprised.
Yet this time, something seemed different.
"What is this...?"
Just as he was quietly waiting for the Circle of Usurpation to take effect and preparing to receive Sun Wukong's power, Kaiser suddenly sensed something amiss.
To his astonishment, a foreign force was entangling with the Circle of Usurpation, restraining its activation.
That power—was trying to seize Sun Wukong's Divinity.