The next morning, sunlight streamed through the windows, spilling across the disordered bed.
Clothes lay strewn across the floor. Beneath the messy sheets, a long, slender leg glimmered in the light.
Balder — half-dressed, radiance still faintly shimmering over his skin — rose quietly.
He poured himself a glass of divine liquor and walked toward the far end of the chamber.
With a single thought, the Cross-Realm Gate reappeared before him.
Two swirling vortices pulsed at its crown — the two worlds he had already conquered.
Balder extended a hand.
"Search for a low-tier fantasy world that possesses a 'God.'"
He paused, then added:
"Limit the search — the world's God must be weaker than me."
Moments passed. The portal remained silent — utterly still.
No new vortex appeared.
Balder's brow furrowed.
"What's this supposed to mean? Don't tell me… across infinite worlds, there isn't a single 'God' weaker than me?"
That didn't sound right.
Some lower worlds had primitive "gods," entities nowhere near his current might.
He considered.
"Could it be… because of the Pseudo-Omniscient Authority?"
A possibility.
The Pseudo-Omniscient Authority was flawed — limited by dimensional laws and metaphysical hierarchy — a diluted form of true omniscience and omnipotence.
But even a false omniscience was still omniscience, and it was precisely this power that most intrigued Balder now.
Perhaps the issue wasn't the lack of weaker gods —
but that any being who did possess even a fragment of pseudo-omniscience could temporarily match him, defying the search filter.
"If they can use that power to fight above their tier… then even the weakest 'God' could stand at my level."
Balder fell silent, thoughtful.
Then, slowly, a glimmer lit his eyes.
"Wait. Even if those pseudo-omniscient beings can't be easily beaten… that doesn't mean they're untouchable."
He raised his hand again.
"Search — for worlds that contain a true God... one that I can kill, or steal power from."
No more restrictions.
Only one criterion — the potential to take their divinity.
One second. Two.
The Cross-Realm Gate began to hum — faintly at first, then violently.
A massive surge of energy erupted from its core, pulling light and matter inward.
Balder's lips curved into a satisfied smile.
He summoned his Idol of Faith, channeling its immense reservoir of believers' devotion into the gate.
The torrent of divine power roared like a river of gold.
Time passed — and soon, even that wellspring ran dry.
Balder frowned slightly.
"As expected… anything connected to a 'God' demands far more energy."
Even after conquering multiple worlds, the idol's faith reserves were nearly drained.
Without hesitation, Balder extended his own hand, channeling the Power of Light directly from his godhood into the vortex.
Minutes passed.
Almost two-fifths of his divine essence burned away before the gate finally calmed.
Then — three swirling portals blossomed into being.
Each one labeled by name.
"I, Frankenstein"
"Preacher"
"God"
Balder studied them closely.
The first — I, Frankenstein — was familiar. He'd encountered traces of it before: a low-tier fantasy world with an actual "God," one strong enough to rival him in raw might.
To win there, he would likely have to ally with that world's demons, the natural enemies of its deity.
His gaze lingered, tempted.
But when he turned to the second portal — his expression changed.
"...This one."
He knew this world.
And it was a strange one — difficult to evaluate without laughing or cursing.
"A world with only one God… yet that God ranks third in power. Third! How the hell does that even make sense?"
In that world, a so-called Saint of Killers could one-shot God with a single bullet.
A mere human, once granted the Genesis power, could overpower God Himself like it was nothing.
"Ridiculous. Absolutely absurd."
Balder rubbed his temples, torn between amusement and disbelief.
Still… in terms of opportunity?
That was, without question, the easiest world to kill a God.
After all — according to the original storyline, the God there dies anyway.
Then he turned to the third portal — God (上帝).
He didn't recognize it immediately. Only a faint memory of a short fiction surfaced — one where "God" treated humans as playthings, nothing more.
"If it's that world," he mused, "then it's simple enough — go in with an army, fight Him head-on."
According to the Gate's judgment, his chances there were decent.
Three worlds.
Three methods.
I, Frankenstein: cooperate with demons, strike indirectly.
Preacher: use strategy, manipulation, and patience.
God: brute force — a direct divine battle.
Balder considered briefly — then dismissed the third.
"No… brute force leaves no margin. The moment I enter, it's war. Victory or death, no in-between. I'm not some gambler betting my own existence."
His eyes narrowed between the first two portals.
"I, Frankenstein"… or Preacher?*
On paper, Preacher was ideal.
That world's "God" was laughably weak — so much so that any moderately powerful being could probably kill Him.
But still — Balder hesitated.
Two problems.
First: the Saint of Killers.
That being was… wrong. Some claimed he was tied to the Angel of Death itself.
And if he could kill that world's God in one shot — it meant he could probably do the same to Balder.
Second: the DC connection.
Some theories suggested that the Preacher universe might be linked, however loosely, to the DC Multiverse.
"If that's true…" he muttered, his tone darkening, "then I'd be walking straight into death."
Because in DC cosmology — their God isn't a name, but The Presence — the true, absolute omniscient being, who exists above all realities.
If the Preacher-verse was even a fragment of that multiverse, then killing its "God" — even a mere projection — would mean instant cosmic annihilation.
Balder exhaled slowly, golden light flickering in his eyes.
"So… that's the risk."
"The easiest God to kill… might also be the most fatal one to challenge."
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