Yuma slowly opened his mouth.
“Divine Domain Proclamation.”
A transparent light covered the entire ground of the imperial palace.
“Life-and-Death Battlefield.”
Creak—
The transparent light devoured the ground.
That light enveloped every existence in Yuma’s surroundings.
Sizzle…
Shallow waves rippled across the floor. A total of 300 followers tilted their heads at the waves or stood still.
The space covered by ‘Life-and-Death Battlefield’ approached a radius of 500 meters.
It was the same radius of the divine domain that the evil god Barbatos had unleashed during the ‘Shura Path.’
‘The duration of the divine domain will likely last until my divine power is completely depleted.’
Yuma felt the surge of white divine power emanating from his entire being.
‘Barbatos maintained the Shura Path until just before his death.’
The time he fought against Barbatos was around 20 minutes.
‘That’s enough.’
Yuma judged that this amount of time would suffice.
Step.
Yuma took another step forward.
“You must attack me within 5 minutes.”
“What…?”
The [God of Flame and Sorrow] Omertha widened his eyes.
It was just then.
Tick—
A gray pendulum appeared above the heads of the four gods. No, above the gods and their followers.
Tick—
And it kept moving.
“If you do not attack me within 5 minutes, you will die.”
Life and Death.
A battle over existence.
Must Fight Battlefield.
A battlefield where one must fight.
The rule Yuma set for this divine domain was as follows:
Among the beings belonging to ‘Life-and-Death Battlefield,’ anyone who was not excluded by Yuma must attack him within 5 minutes.
If not, the pure power of the divine force he possessed would strike the opponent in the shape of a sword.
Swish—
A strange sound echoed.
The gods, including Omertha, all lifted their heads in unison.
A sword form radiating a faint chill.
Above their heads, where the pendulum floated, a single sword shape appeared in a straight line.
Swish—
Over three hundred sword shapes densely filled the sky above the Life-and-Death Battlefield.
The members of the Empire couldn’t tear their eyes away from the intense scene unfolding before them.
I couldn’t take my eyes off the intense spectacle.
Omertha slowly opened his mouth.
“…What kind of restriction did you impose?”
“You don’t need to know that.”
Duke Yuma’s ‘Desperate Battlefield’ was a realm soaked in peculiarity.
The original intention was not to deal a meaningful strike with this divine realm. Instead, it was a ploy to instill fear with those blade forms densely covering the sky and to create a situation where the opponent had no choice but to attack.
Parrying.
And the [Absolute Counter] manifested through that parry.
It was a battlefield crafted specifically for taking on gods with that absolute counter.
The opponent was a god. No matter how formidable Yuma’s current divine power was, there might still be a way to survive a hit. However, [Absolute Counter] was different. This power had never betrayed Yuma. So, he pondered what would be the most certain battlefield for using [Absolute Counter].
Doubt.
Gods who witnessed Yuma’s battle with the demon god Barbatos should now hesitate to attack him easily.
Even if they didn’t catch on that the source of the attack infused with ten times the power of [Absolute Counter] was the attacker’s own strength, they would have realized that he had never taken the ‘first strike.’ That alone would give the opponents a reason to hesitate before attacking Yuma first.
Ignoring that reasoning, Yuma had created an environment where they had no choice but to attack him.
With his divine power manifested, there was barely time to confirm if a physical attack could be made or not. So, he prepared the stage for the most reliable and clear weapon: [Absolute Counter], presenting a sword form in a ‘conditional activation’ style.
And the world’s causality acknowledged the establishment of this divine realm, the desperate battlefield.
To causality, this divine realm seemed to work against Yuma.
Enemies within ‘Desperate Battlefield’ had to direct their attacks solely at Yuma. As long as Yuma himself was alive and this realm remained intact.
That was the law of this divine realm.
Self-sacrifice.
Causality regarded the condition imposed by Yuma in this divine realm as a noble self-sacrifice and dismissed it as a ‘restriction’ he had set for himself.
But from Yuma’s perspective, it was just a condition set to eliminate the enemies cleanly.
“…Omertha.”
Galua stared at the still Omertha.
“I know why you hesitate.”
If that fiend were to appear before him in perfect condition without a scratch or lethal wound, it would be better to hold off on attacking and instead proceed to a standoff.
If they suddenly appeared before you, completely uninjured and in perfect condition, the first instinct should be to hold off on attacking and instead prepare for a standoff.
And that was exactly what Omertha said.
“But in this situation, hesitation could be deadly.”
Galua looked at the sword shape glowing with white light above her head.
“This sword’s divine power isn’t just an illusion.”
You might withstand it once.
But twice? That’s a different story. The divine power contained within this sword is tremendous. Which means, the divine power of Duke Yuma right in front of you is beyond measure.
“Even if you can endure this sword once, there’s no guarantee you can do it again, Omertha. You might hold up for a couple of times, sure.”
Omertha, being one of the [Eight Evil Gods] who transcends hierarchy, might have a chance to withstand Duke Yuma’s divine sword form. However, the other three gods might sustain fatal damage from the sword currently floating in the air.
“Isn’t it simple?”
A scratching voice emerged from beside the two gods. It was Cryos, the [God of Revenge and Courage].
His reddish-brown hair fluttered wildly.
“If we all declare our divine domains and charge simultaneously, even that guy wouldn’t know what hit him.”
Cryos stepped forward, directing his gaze at Yuma.
“Divine Domain Declaration.”
And continued,
“Mountain of Grievance and Blood.”
Rumbling thunder shook the ground as if an earthquake had struck. A massive red mountain erupted behind Cryos, a dry, blood-red mass.
The ability of the ‘Mountain of Grievance and Blood’ resembled that of the deceased war god Barbatos’s divine domain, ‘Sword Storm’—enhancing the power of its true nature.
The crucial difference was that the ‘Mountain of Grievance and Blood’ also applied to Cryos and the red legion he summoned.
To raise courage aimed at killing the opponent, it also amplified feelings of vengeance.
The followers who believed in Cryos grew stronger the more vengeance they roused against their enemies.
“Advance, warriors!”
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
Each step was taken by colossal monsters with demigod-level abilities. The Crimson-Haired Cat-Folk Swordsman advanced forward, scattering fifty red currents in his wake.
A monster. The Crimson-Haired Cat-Folk Swordsman rushed forward, scattering fifty red currents.
The Mother of Sinister Charity, Galua, let out a light sigh and then spoke quietly.
“Dirge of Charity.”
From where Galua stood, a strange crack opened in the ground.
What emerged from the earth was an enormous scythe, a scythe entangled with countless restless spirits.
But it wasn’t just a weapon that had transformed;
Creeeeak! Creeeeak!
The black giants that broke free from their cocoons grew even larger.
The Shallow and Deep Military God, Yenkal, declared a divine realm called “Land of Abundance and Evolution.”
The effect was straightforward. The various large insects summoned by Yenkal evolved to become more aggressive.
“Divine realm declaration.”
Lastly, it was Omertha who made the declaration.
“Void Purgatory.”
Whoosh! Whoosh!
A vast flame surged from beneath Omertha’s feet. It was a fiery inferno.
The four gods bid to encroach upon each other’s divine realms. While it was important not to intrude on each other’s territory, pouring all their power into Yuma was paramount.
“That human, Yuma, is definitely a god.”
Galua said, her navy blue hair fluttering.
“We must clearly recognize that and strike together.”
No god answered Galua’s words, but everyone understood her message.
That human could not be viewed as just another human.
Countless armies stomped their feet.
The ground shook violently.
Boom.
Cryos’ subordinate, the Crimson-Haired Cat-Folk Swordsman, rushed in.
Each of the twelve arms of the Crimson-Haired Cat-Folk wielded a different type of weapon.
Around 150 enormous insects from Yenkal charged, turning the ground into a disaster zone.
Boom.
About 100 black giants from Galua charged fiercely.
A total of over 300 combatants.
And the four gods, their masters, charged towards Yuma.
In the eyes of the azure, countless armies were trapped.
Members of the Empire stared at the enemies pouring in like a gigantic wave and the one divine being facing them.
Yuma took a step forward.
The black coat billowed.
Crack──
The battlefield of life and death clashed with the divine realms of the four gods.
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