Chapter 544: Short Arcade Escapade [Monthly Bonus 1]
Right after exiting the Hall of Stars, they passed by the next group going in for their report and Arthur saw one of them was trembling nervously.
’Well, I guess most people aren’t as used to being around Deities as I am.’
Such a thought crossed his mind, and he was happy he’d grown up with such powerhouses as his family. Because he didn’t cower in his boots every time he felt a Deity’s power.
A Monarch’s power could still scare the living shit out of him, though. The gap between the realms was wide, after all.
Putting that at the back of his mind, Arthur focused on what he had just learned from one of the Demon Queens.
’I already have a Pseudo-Origin core, but it’s not activated yet.
She said it was mutated, but why?’
This was the million-dollar question. Exactly what was mutating his Gravity Origin Core and delaying its awakening.
Arthur opened his status board and he didn’t take too long to find what was most likely the answer.
|Gravitemporal Harmony;
Type: Personal Unique Skill
This skill cannot be lost or taken away.
This skill can only be used by manipulators of Time and Gravity Law energy who also possess Anti-Divinity.
While numerous hand-to-hand combat techniques, infused with both temporal and gravitational law energies, exist, Gravitemporal Harmony stands apart by seamlessly blending in the Negative Energy of Anti-Divinity.
The result is a graceful and potent dance of power and precision that defies conventional boundaries, making it a truly exceptional and unparalleled skill.
Due to repeated use, the harmonious blend of law energies and Anti-Divinity coalesced into a distinctive rune etched onto the user’s soul, solidifying the conditions for the skill’s creation.
Abilities;
The Skill possesses five key elements.
1) Gravitational Distortion/Downforce.
2) Temporal Weave
3) Weighted Impact
4) Gravitational Anchoring
5) Void Glide. |
Skills were runes on the souls of the wielder, and the users of skills exhibited the powers of these runes through their bodies. Pseudo-Origin Cores also existed in their wielder’s souls.
’Perhaps when my Pseudo-Origin core was forming, Gravitemporal Harmony’s power got mixed in and resulted in the mutation?’
If this was the case, then Gravitemporal Harmony would be key in awakening the Pseudo-Origin core.’
Arthur arrived at this conclusion, but he had no idea how to go about achieving this awakening.
’I’d just ask the Demon Queen, then. She knows more about Gravity than I do so she might have an idea.’
Making this decision, Arthur turned to Evan who was beside him and asked.
"Wanna go play ’Demon Dodgeball Blitz’?"
"..."
Evan, who had just grappled with inner turmoil and had come to many realisations from his meeting with the Demon Rulers just now, gave Arthur a deadpan look when the godslayer nonchalantly suggested they head to the Arcade.
A moment, later, he sighed and replied.
"You know what? Let’s go. There’s so much to think about that I don’t even know where to start. I need a break."
He decided not to stress himself with overthinking and before Alvey who overheard their interaction could even say anything, Arthur had already created a Cosmic Gate.
"The Summit isn’t over, you know?"
"Yeah, but from this point on, whatever happens doesn’t concern us.
The only thing I’m waiting for them to agree to my proposition and they said they’d discuss that on another day.
As for the rewards and stuff that happens after today’s reports..."
Arthur paused when he got to that point. He placed a hand on his chin and sunk into his thoughts for a few seconds, glancing at Evan momentarily before speaking.
"Evan was supposed to get a rank, but it can be given without him being present or any ceremony, right?
So, there’s not really a need for him to be here anymore. The only reason we’d have to come back is to speak with Demon King Westley but it’d be a walk in the park for him to find us when he wants to talk."
After saying this, Arthur jumped into the Cosmic Gate and Evan followed right after, remerging at the Arcade they’d been frequenting for the past few days.
They changed out of their uniforms to avoid unnecessary attention, switching to more casual wear.
Arthur went with a simple fitted black t-shirt paired with dark jeans and sneakers. His hair, usually neatly styled, was slightly tousled for a more relaxed look.
Evan, on the other hand, opted for a more laid-back ensemble. He wore a soft, grey hoodie over a plain white t-shirt, along with well-worn blue jeans. But by the time they got into intense supersonic dodgeball matches, he ended up taking off the hoodie and tying it at his hip.
While they were playing games in the Arcade, the Summit went on as planned. Hundreds of Demons came to report in the hours that went by, and when they were done, The Demon Rulers and the Noble Family Heads all deliberated the rewards to be given out.
It was sunset by the time they finished, so they quickly called in all the representatives of the worlds starting with the letters A to E.
Hundreds of them gathered in the Hall of Stars, standing in the centre area, separated by their respective groups.
The reward ceremony commenced, with plans to give special recognition to the standout achievers during the Summit’s Second Phase. This phase would feature grand parties where guests from other Prime Worlds and Interstellar Empires, both within and beyond the Orithyia Galaxy, would be invited.
Honouring these standout individuals in the presence of such influential powerhouses was a strategic move to elevate their status on the Interstellar Stage and significantly expand their influence.
This was where Arthur truly intended to get his name out there, even more so than what had already spread from Aramis.
His Universal Influence experiment would enter its climax phase with this.
When the Aramis group was called out during the rewards phase, the Demon Rulers mentioned they were to send technicians to analyse and replicate the Triton’s Ark so they could use it for naval battles on other worlds.
Right after that, the Demon Kings who had already come to a decision regarding Arthur’s proposition demanded his presence, but at that time, he was not in the arcade where he and Evan had gone to earlier.
Finding him, however, wasn’t an issue as all Jamie needed to do was lock onto the only Sub-Cosmic presence within Imperium Astra. The man’s spatial perception could expand to cover light years, so finding someone within a single Region that was only a few hundred million square kilometres in area wasn’t hard.
When Arthur saw a Cosmic Gate suddenly appear in front of him, he quickly understood that his presence was required so he swapped out his uniform with a spell and entered it.
Evan was also called on, so the Rogue Hero followed and they emerged back inside the Hall of Stars.
"Yo! That’s a lot of demons."
Arthur spoke casually as he stepped into the Hall, with many from other groups giving him incredulous stares when they saw his attitude in front of the Demon Rulers.
What was even more shocking was how they were either just indifferent or acted like it was normal.
Jamie closed the Cosmic Gate after the two boys entered, before propping his chin on his palm as he asked.
"Do you have intentions to return here later in the future?"
"Yeah. I’m definitely coming back."
Arthur said this without hesitation. He wasn’t just gonna step into the interstellar stage and build influence in this Universe just to abandon it forever. He had plans to come back here after he became a Deity, which should only take a few more years by his standards.
"I see...and you would remain affiliated with us?"
"Definitely."
The Demon Rulers already gave Arthur special treatment because he was foreign Universal Royalty; a descendant of both Lucifer and Kronos, two powerful figures who had a history with Gozon.
Especially Lucifer, who had helped the Demons of the Universe win intergalactic wars in the past.
It was because of this that they didn’t make a fuss despite Arthur acting casually with them or not addressing them with ’Your Excellency’ as the demons under them did.
Since Lucifer had already made things easy for him to integrate himself with one of this Universe’s Major powers, then Arthur wasn’t gonna be foolish and try to start from zero with another faction.
"As a ’godslayer’, and the Progenitor at that, your very presence is very effective in dealing with gods and Divines. It’d be a wonderful asset to have given that the major enemies of our race are the gods."
McEnda II’s words revealed to the Demons from other battlefront worlds who Arthur was. They had heard stories about there being a new race popping up in the past few years. In the past 7 months since Arthur came around, those ’stories of a new race’ became ’stories of a godslayer race’.
While slayers existed for many other races, the gods had none. This made them consider themselves an exception, which led to arrogance and belligerence among them.
However, it was now clear that they weren’t exempt after all; the Cosmos had simply taken its time to prepare a slayer for them. Considering Arthur’s Singularity nature and extraordinary talent, that time seemed to have been well invested.
"Right now, you’re only a Superior Sovereign. However, you’ve somehow reached this level in less than 2 decades of life. With such speed, it’s clear your future ahead is very bright.
I am curious to see if the scale of your powers would be the same as other slayers we know of, or if it’d be even more.
You might be able to affect all the gods on an entire planet by the time you reach the peak of Transcendence; Your range might also become sub-stellar even as A Half Deity."
"That is a sight I would certainly love to see."
Xagthor added after McEnda II spoke, thinking of a particular set of gods whose distraught expressions he wanted to see as their powers slipped away.
"On Aramis alone, your presence has helped a fair number of battles.
I’d like to order at least a dozen of these Anti-Divinity missiles Sargon wrote about in his report."
Malorum spoke next, placing an order that made Arthur laugh. Following him, Demon King Agriker, Barron’s great-great-grandfather spoke.
"I hear you’ve taken up summoning as well. They’re calling you the ’Silver Demon Summoner’, was it?"
Hearing the long title made Arthur click his tongue lightly and shake his head.
"That name is honestly a mouthful. I need to have a word with the people who thought that was a good name."
"Funny, I said the exact same thing when I first heard it."
Jamie responded to Arthur’s words with a light chuckle. Then, waving his hand, he made a seal appear in the air in front of Arthur who grabbed it and raised his brow in question.
On it was the insignia of the Gozonian Interstellar Army, along with three gleaming stars.
"First off, we decided to raise the rank you have with us..."
Arthur expected this much so he wasn’t surprised, however, Jamie’s next words made jaws drop to the floor.
"...this rank would now hold Authority within all of Gozon’s colonies in the Orithyia Galaxy."
