Chapter 686: A Call to War
Arthur was in his own words, displeased.
And who wouldn’t be? Discovering someone was plotting to kill you wasn’t exactly cause for joy.
Sure, the situation was a consequence of his decisions over the past year on Aramis, but that didn’t change the outcome.
"Very well, then. I was running out of time anyway."
Arthur’s finger tapped the table once more and the flow of time resumed.
Colour returned to the world and in that same instant, twelve streaks of light shot in from different directions.
Rachel wanted to shout, she wanted to warn them that Arthur wasn’t affected by the dagger.
They also realised something wrong.
They were conscious, if only partially, throughout the time Arthur had halted time. They knew about Arthur’s time powers, and seeing how Arthur who had a dagger in his chest was suddenly holding Rachel’s arm still gripping the dagger, they understood that their plan had failed.
But they were already mid-motion, moving at hypersonic speed, their energies primed to attack.
It was simply impossible to stop in the short-split second it took them to reach Arthur’s position.
Even if they could stop themselves, they would never be fast enough to do it before Arthur acted.
—Destruction Nova—
The world erupted.
A blinding detonation of crimson and silver energy engulfed everything, an explosion so vast and devastating it made a nuclear blast seem insignificant in comparison.
The city of Sloklens vanished in an instant, its buildings, streets, and every living being within vaporized without a trace. Millions of soldiers, reduced to nothing but dust.
This was a cosmic energy-powered attack from a being who had achieved completion in a Basic Rank Law and was NOT holding back.
Transcendents died from this. That was how devastating it was.
The energy tore through the atmosphere, its sheer force ripping apart layers of the sky and creating a scar that would linger for days.
For the Demons on the Southern Half of Gledea, it was a beacon—a signal.
A call to war.
◇ ◇ ◇
Barron Agriker was mid-conversation with a colleague when he, like every other Transcendent on the continent, felt it.
They all felt it before it happened.
Then they saw it. The crimson silver blaze painted the skies, its radiance visible from all edges of the continent.
And finally, the sound. The deafening roar of destruction.
Barron stood in stunned silence, overwhelmed by the sheer scale of power unleashed by someone who, just a year ago, was merely a Legendary.
But his moment of shock was short-lived.
A sudden surge of energy snapped him back to reality as he felt the activation of multiple charges from his Pseudo-Authority, scattered across Northern Gledea by Arthur.
Immediately, he activated his Pseudo-Authority of Summoning and transferred his magic power through the magic circles Arthur had laid down, activating them remotely.
The summoning circles lit up and Demon Army Soldiers materialized within Aramisian territories.
[ATTACK EVERYTHING ON SIGHT.]
That was their sole order.
They appeared in critical locations—atop Aramisian military bases and within supply depots. Entire airships emerged from the magic circles, ascending to the skies and unleashing volleys of Anti-Divinity missiles.
Simultaneously, the Demon Army’s main force, a legion over a hundred million strong, hit the frontlines.
The Aramisians didn’t know what to do.
First came the explosion that obliterated Sloklens, its shockwave reverberating across the continent. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Demon Army soldiers began appearing at random locations, accompanied by hordes of demonic beasts.
As if that weren’t enough, the frontlines were struck by two of the Four Star Generals along with their dozens of subordinated Lieutenant Generals.
But the nightmare didn’t end there.
In the heart of Gledea’s High Command region, an enormous seven-headed Hydra materialized without warning.
The colossal beast wasted no time, its seven heads rearing back in unison before unleashing a devastating barrage of multi-coloured breaths.
The full power of a Level 999 Existence.
It carried even more devastating power than Arthur’s Destruction Nova.
Naturally, not everything there died. Superior Transcendents and many Intermediate Stages survived.
But while Superior Transcendents and several Intermediate stages managed to survive, everything below them was incinerated.
More than half of Gledea High Command was reduced to ash, and the death toll climbed into the millions within seconds.
The Hydra continued its attack, each head spraying magic-infused destruction in different directions.
The land fractured beneath its power, tectonic plates shifting as the continent itself began to crack under the strain.
Then, as abruptly as it had appeared, the Hydra vanished.
The magic circle and energy sustaining its summoning had reached their limit, but the damage done was irreversible.
Meanwhile, Gozonian soldiers continued to emerge from the pre-constructed magic circles Arthur placed around, striking critical supply lines and disrupting Aramisian operations.
Some appeared right behind the frontlines, coordinating with the Demon Army to pincer the Aramisians.
◇ ◇ ◇
As chaos consumed Gledea, Arthur remained untouched at the heart of the first explosion.
Seated at the table, his hand still clasped around Rachel’s trembling one, her eyes wide with terror.
Of the twelve Transcendents who tried to attack him, the ten Inferior Stages were dead.
Finally, Arthur released her hand, and Rachel could barely maintain her balance as she crumpled to the floor, too shaken to even stand.
He rose, tapping the table and disintegrating it into dust as he spoke.
"You know, I didn’t kill Ger in Duskhand."
Arthur’s subspace opened, and a cube fell out into his palm. He absorbed the temporal energy that made it up, releasing Ger’s seal and the man’s full body tumbled to the floor in front of Arthur.
Arthur gave him a swift, contemptuous kick to the stomach, the shock of pain jolting Ger awake.
"He’s still very much alive, as you can see."
Rachel’s breath caught in her throat as shock flickered in her eyes.
"I planned to give him back to you before I left this Universe; after wiping his memories, of course."
Arthur’s hand snaked into Ger’s hair, lifting him effortlessly. He turned the man’s face toward Rachel’s horrified expression as he spoke.
"But...I’m displeased right now, so..."
**CHUK!
"..No. Nno!"
Faster than Rachel could react, Celestia’s blade burst through Ger’s chest. Blood sprayed from his mouth as the man’s heart was impaled, the life fading from his eyes.
Ger’s pupils dilated in an instant, his breath coming in ragged gasps as his world dimmed. His eyes widened in disbelief and fear, a primal understanding of his impending death settling in.
As his vision blurred, his gaze flickered to Rachel, who lay crumpled on the floor, her face a mask of tears and terror.
Unconsciously, his hand reached out toward her, fingers twitching in a desperate, futile motion.
"Ra—Ra—"
His outstretched hand faltered as his life slipped away, and with a final breath, Ger collapsed, lifeless.
"A stab through the heart."
Arthur spoke as he coated his palm in the energy of the laws of life and death. Combining the powers of his meagre 15% comprehensions, he could visibly see souls and materialize them physically.
With Cosmic energy, he could interact with them.
And with Destruction law energy...
*CRACK!
...he could destroy them.
The soul shattered, a deafening, sickening noise as if breaking glass, sending fragments of light scattered in every direction.
Right before Rachel’s eyes, Arthur shattered the ball of light that was Ger’s soul, letting the shattered fragments blow onto her body.
Rachel’s breath caught, her hands trembling as she stared at the fragments that touched her skin, the warmth of his essence gone in an instant, leaving only an echo of horror in her eyes.
Seeing that expression, Arthur sighed. He turned his gaze away from the terror-stricken girl and glanced around.
"Seems our sleeping beauties are waking up. Hold on, Rachael. Let me put them to sleep forever."
With those words, he froze the girl in time and turned to face the remaining two of the twelve Transcendents, the Intermediate Stages.
He walked towards the two wounded humanoid dragons as he began.
"Blame your gods for restricting the information of the Interstellar stage from you. If they didn’t, you would not have dared to come after me with merely 12 Transcendents."
If the two dragons had been of sound body and mind, able to reflect on Arthur’s words, they might have realized that the failure of their plan was not entirely their fault.
The blame, in truth, lay with the god Kings who ruled their world with an iron grip of suppression.
Aramis’ current plight stemmed from their actions.
If the god-kings hadn’t stifled knowledge and technological advancement for the sake of easier control, the Aramisians could have reached the same heights as other Prime Worlds like Denerth Prime.
They would have understood the Interstellar Stage and known better than to enslave millions of demons, forcing them to burn their blood in a desperate call to Gozon.
Had they not meddled, Gozon’s discovery of Aramis would have been delayed, giving the Aramisians precious time to evolve, to gain strength to fight back.
Perhaps the war for their world wouldn’t end with a clash of mere Transcendents, but one waged by Half-Deities.
If knowledge of the Interstellar Stage hadn’t been suppressed, the Aramisians would have known Arthur was now a Transcendent.
They would never have made the fatal mistake of underestimating him by sending Inferior Stages against him. If they’d had the information, they might have unleashed someone like Duskhand instead.
But ignorance was a weapon, one wielded by their god Kings.
As the two humanoid dragons struggled to rise to their feet—battered, bleeding, and broken—Arthur casually stepped towards them and spoke.
"I was already as strong as a Transcendent before I became one.
Now, why don’t you take a guess at how strong I am now?"
The boy’s fist was infused with the power of gravity, so dense it warped the space around his arm.
"Think carefully. It’s the last guess you’ll ever make, after all."
The sound of his words was just reaching their ears when Arthur moved. His fist struck the first dragon square in the stomach, the force sending them hurtling skyward.
Before they could even fly far, Arthur appeared above and brought his foot down on the dragon’s head, stomping them down onto the ground.
The impact crushed their skull with a sickening crack, their lifeless body pinned beneath the unbearable weight of 50x gravity.
Death was instantaneous.
The second tried to polymorph and return to their full dragon form, but Arthur’s eyes snapped in their direction and he spoke.
"I’m not going to wait for you to transform, you know?"
His right hand reached out and gravity law energy swirled around the dragon, creating a bubble of energy, pressing down on them from all sides with 75x gravity.
Their body crumpled under the crushing force, blood and viscera erupting as they were crushed in the air.
After killing them, Arthur turned back to Rachel, who was frozen in terror, her wide eyes filled with dread. He tilted his head slightly, his expression calm, almost curious.
"What should I do with you now?"
He took a step closer, his tone shifting to something almost conversational.
"Do I want to kill you? To be honest, no. Now that my initial annoyance has cooled, your attempt to kill me feels... almost cute.
But I also can’t just let you go, you see?"
Rachel instinctively scrambled backwards, dragging herself across the ground. Her legs refused to cooperate, trembling too much to support her.
Arthur paused mid-step, his eyes narrowing slightly as a thought crossed his mind. Slowly, a smile spread across his face—a smile that to Rachel looked no different from a devil’s.
"You know I’m not human, demon, or god, right?"
