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If spiritual power was drained dry, then they would take life force instead.
Those shrine maidens who had already collapsed began to age rapidly as their vitality was siphoned away, until in the end they shriveled into withered husks.
On the outer perimeter, the members of the Official History Compilation Committee watched with faces full of pain.
These shrine maidens were treasures of the Sakura Nation.
And now, one after another, they were dying right before their eyes.
Thankfully, the ritual ended quickly. When the crimson lightning in the sky finally tore open a spatial rift, the god who did not follow descended at last.
He was a middle-aged man clad in ancient Huaxia-style armor, over eight chi tall, heroic and imposing, holding a pitch-black iron staff in his hand.
"They really summoned Yuan Hong," Alex said, the corner of his mouth lifting into an excited grin.
Unlike Sun Wukong, Yuan Hong had completely transformed into a human form, without a trace of monkey features left behind.
Sun Wukong might look human, but he had never truly transformed. At his core, he was still a monkey.
"Who dares show such insolence, forcing the Star of the Four Abolitions to descend as a god who does not follow?" Yuan Hong roared, his voice thick with fury.
Alex did not bother with words. He shot straight into the sky, a massive greatsword appearing in his hand. It was Wolf's End, forged back in the Akame ga Kill world.
The Authority "Rending Silver Hand" activated. His sword-wielding right hand transformed into gleaming silver metal.
Empowered by the Authority, Wolf's End evolved into a true demonic sword.
At this moment, its quality had reached the level of a divine artifact.
"Rakshasa Lord, you have guts," Yuan Hong said coldly. The instant he saw Alex, he knew he was a godslayer.
A god who does not follow and a godslayer were natural enemies. When they met, it was a fight to the death.
Alex had no interest in trading words. He brought his sword down in a clean, decisive slash.
Yuan Hong did not dodge, swinging his iron staff to meet it head-on.
Sword and staff collided, unleashing a deafening roar and a shockwave that annihilated everything around them.
Yuan Hong staggered back five steps. Alex only retreated three.
Not only that, a thin crack appeared on Yuan Hong's iron staff, carved there by the Authority "Rending Silver Hand."
Yuan Hong glanced at his weapon and frowned slightly.
Alex, on the other hand, broke into a wide grin. Wolf's End paired with Rending Silver Hand was terrifyingly strong.
Without hesitation, he swung again.
Yuan Hong snorted. The crack on his iron staff vanished completely, and the two plunged back into battle.
The weapons of gods who do not follow were not truly physical objects. They were closer to Authorities themselves. As long as the god lived, their weapons could be restored endlessly.
It was just like Alex's golden sword from the Authority "Eastern God of War." Even if it shattered in combat, it could still be summoned again.
As long as the Authority remained, the golden sword could never truly be destroyed.
Neither Alex nor Yuan Hong used Authorities in their exchange.
It was as if they had agreed beforehand, relying purely on martial skill and close combat.
Alex's martial path had already reached divine mastery. His "Crown of Martial Arts" had evolved into a true Martial God state. Even so, Yuan Hong's skill was no weaker.
As one of the Four Chaos Monkeys, battle itself was one of his innate talents.
On top of that, he cultivated the Daoist guardian divine art, the Eight-Nine Mystical Art. His martial skill and combat instincts were on par with divine martial mastery, perhaps even slightly superior.
That alone made Alex intensely envious of the Eight-Nine Mystical Art.
Fighting a master like Yuan Hong sent Alex's blood boiling. Even though his martial path had already reached its peak, it actually advanced a little further during the fight.
Below them, Luo Hao watched with eyes shining, using her clairvoyance to observe the battle.
Alex's current level of martial skill earned even her respect.
And Yuan Hong was just as impressive. She had not expected him to be this strong.
It made her fingers itch. She wanted to test herself against him.
But she held back. After all, this was Alex's prey.
She planned to wait until Sun Wukong was released, then fight to her heart's content.
Sun Wukong was also one of the Four Chaos Monkeys, and the Fighting Buddha of Buddhism. His strength would not be inferior to Yuan Hong's.
If he used the Grand Covenant Method, he would become the strongest god who did not follow, second only to the Last King.
Just thinking about it filled Luo Hao with anticipation.
After trading over a thousand moves with Yuan Hong, Alex felt that his martial path could not advance any further. He finally gave up on close combat.
"It's time to end this."
The tool god had outlived his usefulness. It was time to kill him.
Alex suddenly began chanting words of power, activating the Authority of the "Lord of the Sky."
In an instant, the elements of heaven and earth went berserk.
Howling winds rose. Dark clouds gathered. Thunder roared.
One tornado after another surged from the ground, transforming into wind dragons.
The lightning within the storm clouds twisted into thunder dragons.
Countless wind and thunder dragons, carrying world-ending force, charged toward Yuan Hong.
Seeing this, Yuan Hong also activated his Authority.
He bellowed a single word, "Grow!"
His body expanded with the wind, swelling rapidly. In the blink of an eye, he became a gigantic long-armed ape towering over a thousand meters tall.
A Daoist divine art, the Law of Heaven and Earth.
After transforming into a colossal ape, the wind and thunder dragons Alex summoned looked like insects to Yuan Hong.
He swatted them away with a single palm, overwhelming in power.
"That's a bit much," Alex muttered, clicking his tongue.
This Law of Heaven and Earth was not just about size. Strength and defense were multiplied as well.
Alex remembered how Journey to the West described it: when this divine art is used, the caster becomes like heaven and earth themselves, matching the sky in height and the land in breadth, standing on equal footing with the cosmos. A supreme divine power.
In other words, Yuan Hong had now become a small self-contained world, supported by endless cursed energy.
Such an absurd Authority only made Alex want it more.
All he wanted now was to kill Yuan Hong as quickly as possible and steal his power.
He stopped holding back and unleashed his full strength.
Alex replaced the physical Wolf's End with a projected weapon. It was still Wolf's End, and its power barely changed. But without a physical body, he could freely use Phantasm Breaker and destroy it.
Next, he once again used Fairy Tail's Word Magic, stacking buffs onto Wolf's End. Hardness, sharpness, anti-magic, armor-piercing, god-slaying, and more.
At the same time, the blessing tattoos on his back flared into existence, burning hot.
Alex knew this meant his development abilities, Godslayer and Demon King, had activated.
Finally, he began chanting at the top of his lungs.
"I swear here and now that nothing I cannot cut is allowed to exist. This sword can cleave and sever all things beneath the heavens. It is the invincible blade!"
As he chanted, Alex's right arm completely transformed into silver metal. Rose-colored magical power flooded his entire body, dazzling and beautiful.
At this moment, the Authority "Rending Silver Hand" was fully unleashed.
Slash.
Alex did not waste words. He swung at Yuan Hong's massive body.
The sword aura was so powerful it felt like it could split the planet in half.
Yuan Hong's expression changed drastically as he frantically unleashed divine techniques to defend himself.
But Alex's attack had a second phase.
A black bow appeared in his hands. Wolf's End transformed into an arrow.
He drew the bow and released an arrow meant to pierce a planet.
The arrow followed right behind the sword aura, striking Yuan Hong together with it.
"Explode."
Alex spoke a single word.
The next instant, the arrow formed from Wolf's End detonated.
This was a super demonic sword reinforced by Rending Silver Hand. Its explosive power was beyond imagination.
Boom!
With a thunderous crash, Yuan Hong's defenses were sliced open by Rending Silver Hand. The arrow pierced his body and then exploded from within.
After unleashing this chain of attacks, Alex had expended one-fifth of his vast divine power.
His divine power pool was five times that of a normal godslayer. One-fifth was equivalent to the entire cursed energy reserve of an ordinary godslayer.
When the smoke finally cleared, Alex saw Yuan Hong again.
He had already exited the Law of Heaven and Earth state and returned to normal size.
There was a gaping hole in his chest.
It was the wound left by the arrow's explosion, utterly destroying everything inside.
Yuan Hong still clung to a faint breath, but there was no saving him.
Alex walked up to him. Yuan Hong spat out a mouthful of blood and asked, "Are you from Huaxia?"
"Yes," Alex nodded.
Yuan Hong smiled faintly. "Good. As long as I wasn't killed by those barbarians, that's enough."
With that, he closed his eyes and died.
[Group Member Alex has slain a god and obtained 5000 points.]
At the same time, Alex felt a wave of dizziness.
He knew Pandora had arrived, pulling his consciousness into the Netherworld.
He had already broken past the limits of godslayers and could now resist Pandora's pull.
But he chose not to.
He let Pandora draw his consciousness into the Netherworld.
This time, he did not lose consciousness. From beginning to end, he clearly felt how he entered the Netherworld, and even pinpointed Pandora's exact location within it.
"Alex, you're incredible. You killed your third god so quickly. And you even broke past the godslayer limit, elevating cursed energy into divine power. It's unbelievable," Pandora said, covering her mouth in shock.
Alex now possessed both Authorities and divine power. All he lacked was a divine core to become a true god.
A godslayer becoming a god was nothing short of a miracle.
"Don't be so surprised. You already know I'm from another world. Of course I have methods this world doesn't," Alex said, standing up and surveying the Netherworld.
"Even knowing that, Mama still finds it shocking. You really are my most special child," Pandora said, still wide-eyed.
"Alright, alright. Hurry up and start the ritual," Alex urged.
"Tch, you really don't want to chat with Mama a little longer?" Pandora pouted.
"Once I get you out of here, we'll have all the time in the world to talk," Alex waved it off casually.
Pandora's eyes sparkled. "Then Mama will be waiting."
She began the ritual, summoning the Ring of Usurpation.
Alex stared at the disc, greed flashing in his eyes.
Pandora shot him a look and continued.
Soon, under her control, Yuan Hong's cursed energy and Authorities were transferred to Alex.
His divine power assimilated the incoming cursed energy, converting it seamlessly.
His total divine power surged again, now roughly seven times that of a normal godslayer.
When Alex's consciousness returned to his body, he felt it immediately.
Not only had his divine power increased, his godslayer body had grown stronger as well.
His physique became tougher, and his resistance to magic and sorcery rose even higher.
At that moment, Luo Hao came to his side and asked, "So? What's the new Authority?"
Alex closed his eyes to sense it, then broke into a delighted smile.
He opened them and said, "The new Authority is the Eight-Nine Mystical Art. It has four main abilities: Combat, Transformation, Law of Heaven and Earth, and Indestructible Vajra."
Luo Hao looked surprised, with a trace of envy.
A single Authority with multiple abilities was something nearly every godslayer dreamed of.
"Any restrictions? Like the Eastern God of War?" she asked.
Alex shook his head. "No restrictions. It can be used without limit."
Now Luo Hao was truly envious.
This Eight-Nine Mystical Art was absurd. The Combat aspect granted god-domain-level battle awareness, similar to the Camel ability in Eastern God of War. But Camel focused more on kicking techniques and leg-based martial arts. The Combat ability of the Eight-Nine Mystical Art was different. It was all-around, elevating all martial skills to god-domain level.
The second ability, Transformation, allowed the user to transform into anything.
The third, Law of Heaven and Earth, was the divine art that enlarged the body into a small world, granting endless cursed energy support in battle.
The fourth, Indestructible Vajra, was a blessing of steel. Every steel-type heroic god possessed it. It granted the body the hardness and weight of steel, a power of protection.
Of course, "steel" was only a metaphor. It meant extreme toughness, not literal steel.
After all, even a normal godslayer's body was harder than steel. With a blessing of steel on top of that, the difference was obvious.
"..."
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