“Then I will take the next one. I will try to stall for time as much as possible.”
Cass stepped forward and said this. He walked to the spot where Guni had been swallowed by the fissure, pulled his greatsword from the crack, gripped it with both hands, and faced the Temple of Gods group.
Four remained on the Temple of Gods side: the inheritors of the God of the Battlefield, God of Catastrophe, God of Selflessness, and God of Harvest. Seeing Cass step up, they exchanged glances and judged that he was different from Debbie, Guni, and the others. He was not an inheritor, merely an ordinary divine citizen.
In a god domain, those boosted by the artefact were divine citizens, while those who inherited power from the gods were inheritors.
A single god could have many inheritors, but the power would be divided, greatly weakening each one.
The Temple of Gods had only seven inheritors, each holding a single inheritance.
By contrast, the blood elf inheritors that Stan World had faced earlier had spread the inheritance across their entire domain’s citizens. Blood elves were a mythical race, not tied to a single deity. Their inheritance modified the body to absorb life force, without granting distinct divine abilities.
Stan World actually had quite a few inheritors on Ye Chui’s side: Ye Chui himself held the God of Gods inheritance, Debbie, Guni, and Salome held the Goddess of Wealth inheritance, Dragon Baby held the God of Ten Thousand Beasts, Baby held the Goddess of Life, and Celty could count as an inheritor of the Undead Indian. In truth, their connections were closer; Dragon Baby, Baby, and Celty were gods themselves, merely greatly weakened.
On top of that, Ye Chui had recently begun to suspect that Lesa, who had inherited the Faith Goddess’s holy book, might awaken the Faith Goddess inheritance.
The biggest difference between Stan World’s inheritors and those of the Temple of Gods was the rank of their gods.
The Temple of Gods’ seven inheritors were mostly middle-rank, with two lower-rank.
Ye Chui’s side all held upper-rank gods, and the God of Gods counted as supreme.
Their domain’s strength was inherently overwhelming.
Only now, with the artefact damaged, their power was sharply reduced.
Everyone else in Stan World fell into the divine citizen category. They had no inherited power, only the artefact’s physical boost. With it damaged, they were no different from ordinary humans.
Cass facing an inheritor meant certain defeat.
Yet his fighting spirit burned fiercely. Besides his personal greatsword, he carried a shotgun on his back and a belt of modified grenades. He was a walking armoury. Even if he could not win, he would stall.
“You are just an ordinary person. You cannot possibly match an inheritor.” The Battlefield God inheritor shook his head in disappointment. The earlier accidental crushing defeats had shaken him deeply. Seeing Cass now calmed him somewhat. This domain’s strength seemed limited to those three young female inheritors.
His only lingering puzzle was why, with those girls so powerful, the domain master was Cass, yet the true leader appeared to be Ye Chui.
Ye Chui looked utterly unremarkable.
Even with the artefact damaged, an inheritor should retain most of their power.
“Let me take this match.” The Catastrophe God inheritor stepped forward. She wore black clothes and had white hair. She was very beautiful, but her expression was cold.
The other female inheritor, the Harvest God, stood beside her. They looked identical, clearly twins, yet the Harvest inheritor wore white, had black hair, and radiated vitality and charm.
“I have a bad feeling. That Ye Chui seems to be hiding something and racing against time. Finish this quickly,” the Battlefield God instructed the Catastrophe inheritor.
“I understand.” She smiled coldly. Her body dissolved into black smoke and vanished, reappearing instantly before Cass. The smoke spread like living tendrils from her feet. The ground dried and cracked.
The God of Catastrophe ruled earthly disasters. Disaster followed wherever she went.
Cass felt weakness flood his body. Even his strength began to fade. Disease was a form of catastrophe too.
He shook his head hard, roared to raise his morale, and swung his greatsword straight at her.
She dodged in a flash. With a light wave of her palm, a black orb formed and bounced across the ground. Cass sensed danger and swung to knock it away, but the orb seemed immune to physical blows. Smoky threads split from it and wrapped around him. His weakness surged, his face rapidly turning sallow.
Fortunately the orb soon vanished.
But the Catastrophe inheritor had already moved behind him. She reached out. Black smoke formed ribbons that bound him. Hiss, hiss, hiss. Terrible decaying sounds rose from his body.
Past experience seemed useless against a god inheritor.
Cass realised his greatsword was ineffective. He dropped it, seized the shotgun, and fired point-blank.
Countless pellets flew, yet she merely waved a hand. Black mist ribbons swept past them. The magically charged pellets lost all force and clattered to the ground.
“The God of Catastrophe commands disasters. Even magical attacks can fall ill and fail,” she said icily. The next instant she appeared at his side, embracing him from behind in an almost intimate pose. Black smoke ribbons spread from her hands and coiled tighter. Clatter, clatter. The shotgun fell. Grenades tumbled down. The once gleaming modified weapons seemed to age centuries in moments, rusting and crumbling.
“Admit defeat, or your body will decay and die soon,” she declared arrogantly.
“No… impossible…” Cass resisted stubbornly.
“Ye Chui, end the match now!” Celty’s head shouted urgently. “The Catastrophe God’s power is terrifying. She serves the Goddess of Destruction. She cannot end life directly, but she can rot its vitality. If this continues, Cass is in real danger.”
Hearing Celty, Ye Chui stepped forward and called out, “We concede this match! Stop at once!”
The Catastrophe inheritor smiled coldly, released Cass, and returned instantly to the Battlefield inheritor’s side.
“How are you? I will heal you right away.” Lesa rushed to Cass and pulled out several healing scrolls.
Cass looked deathly pale, as if gravely ill, utterly drained.
“Healing scrolls won’t work on my sister’s damage,” the Harvest God inheritor said. Though identical, she gave a completely different impression.
“Let me.” She approached Cass, waved her hand, and summoned a golden orb. It bounced around him. Golden smoke ribbons drifted out and wrapped him. His wretched state visibly improved.
“The Harvest God is the Catastrophe God’s twin sister. Their powers perfectly counter each other. One rots vitality, the other restores it,” Celty explained. “It seems they choose twin sisters as inheritors too.” chapter_content();
“You lost the fourth match. For the fifth, let me fight.” The Harvest God inheritor smiled gently at Ye Chui’s group.
Cass recovered and returned to Ye Chui’s side, head lowered. “Sorry. I did not last long…”
“It is all right. You did your best.” Ye Chui comforted him, then looked at his companions.
“I will go.” Salome stepped forward.
“Salome?” Ye Chui was surprised.
Salome gripped her magic staff confidently. “I have not been much use in earlier fights, but I can stall for time. Trust me.”
“Very well. Salome, it is up to you.” Ye Chui nodded.
After entering the Continent of Divine Sin, their original magister powers had been sealed. They needed magic scrolls and could not wield magic as freely. Salome, who had always used dark magic tomes, adapted fastest to the restrictions. Her strength had improved most rapidly among the group.
The Harvest God was clearly a healer type with low direct combat ability. Winning might be hard, but stalling should be easy.
The fight between Salome and the Harvest God inheritor began quickly.
Salome waved her advanced staff and unleashed spell after spell at the Harvest inheritor.
The Harvest inheritor could not teleport like her sister, but she could float. Faint wings appeared behind her. A spear-like weapon formed in her hand. She did not dodge Salome’s spells. Golden orbs simply floated around her.
Whatever damage she took, she healed instantly.
This was immortality of another kind.
“I cannot defeat her easily, but that is perfect for buying time,” Salome thought.
“Oh no.” Celty suddenly cried out. When everyone looked, she explained rapidly. “I just remembered. Though the Harvest God lacks combat skill, she has an almost unbeatable technique called [Damage Return].”
“[Damage Return]? What does that mean?” Ye Chui asked urgently.
“It means…” Celty began.
At that moment the floating Harvest inheritor’s gentle face changed. Her white dress transformed into war armour. Her staff became a longsword. In an instant she became a Valkyrie.
“The Harvest God was originally a battle Valkyrie. When she gained harvest power, her combat skills were sealed. But if she takes enough damage, the seal breaks. She converts the damage into strength and reverts to Valkyrie form,” Celty explained. “That is [Damage Return].”
“Valkyrie…” Debbie stared wide-eyed at the transformed Harvest inheritor. Her own summoned spirit Jiji was a Valkyrie, but weak. This version was clearly formidable.
Salome sensed danger and tried to evade, but the Valkyrie flashed past her. Salome gave a soft cry and collapsed.
The Harvest God inheritor wins this match.
Deep gloom spread across Ye Chui’s face. Far too fast.
Though Debbie, Guni, and Salome had crushed their opponents earlier, these last two matches together had lasted only three or four minutes. Still instant defeats. Only one match remained, and the artefact upgrade clearly would not finish in time.
Salome was gravely wounded, but the Harvest inheritor kindly healed her. Salome returned to Ye Chui’s side, guilt written on her face.
“President, the crucial final match has to be mine.” Green volunteered, hefting his reinforced heavy frying pan.
Ye Chui glanced over the group. Among their fighters, Green was exceptional. With his unfathomable teleporting pan techniques, he could now hold his own against gifted elves and orcs like Kuba and Dulong.
Ye Chui nodded and patted Green’s shoulder. “Then it is up to you.”
As Green stepped forward, the Selflessness God inheritor from the other side also advanced.
Ye Chui turned to Celty. “What is special about this Selflessness God?”
“Selflessness is one of the supreme rules, under the Goddess of Wisdom. The Selflessness God serves her. As for what makes him special…” Celty frowned in thought. She knew the gods well, but after so many years some details had grown hazy.
By now Green and the Selflessness inheritor were ready to fight.
The Selflessness inheritor was a slender youth with a soft, almost feminine voice. He smiled faintly at Green. “Big brother, do you have a girl you like?”
“A girl I like?” Green blinked, caught off guard by the question.
Celty suddenly remembered and shouted to Green. “Do not think of Bosley…”
“Ah, Bosley!?” Green had not been thinking of her, but the warning flooded his mind with her image. The next moment Bosley appeared right in front of him.
Green trembled. His frying pan clanged to the ground.
“Bosley…” Love seemed to overwhelm him. He forgot whose side he was on.
“Hee hee.” Bosley gave him a charming smile and swayed her clothes lightly. “Do you want to see me without my clothes?”
Green nodded eagerly. “Yes, yes.”
“Then admit defeat first, all right?”
“Yes, yes. I admit defeat.” Green kept nodding.
The illusion vanished instantly. Green stood there bewildered. Bosley was gone. He scratched his bald head and turned to Ye Chui’s group. “Hey, what just happened?”
Ye Chui and the others: “…”
Utterly exhausting.
Green had lasted only ten seconds.
