Four figures landed in front of Haru, all of them radiating Supreme God Tier Aura. Yvonne, Nova, and the two newest—Lysandra and Eveline, still settling into their new levels, the power around them slightly raw at the edges.
"Well done." Haru said, and meant it.
He hadn't been certain Lysandra and Eveline would make it across the threshold during this war. That they both had, and that Nova had used the final stretch of kills to push from early to intermediate stage as well. The reality was even better than his best-case estimate.
"Lysandra." He nodded toward the battlefield, "Take the others and clean up. Corpses, Godheads, Artifacts, Power Stones, Blueprints, everything. Don't leave anything."
"As you command."
They dispersed. Only Yvonne and Celestia remained.
Haru looked out at what they'd won:
-Hundreds of thousands of Divine Corpses
-Over a million Godheads
-Millions of Artifacts
Blueprints:
-Bloodline Evolution Blueprints
-Troop Summoning Blueprints
-Other Special Blueprints
All things the Great Aetherium needed. The total haul made the Demon Slayer Tournament look modest. During that event, they had killed two or three hundred thousand Demonic Gods at most, padded out by demonized monsters and mortal Demons.
Today they killed nearly a million and a half Gods, most of them carrying Artifacts and Godheads worth real weight in Divine Crystals. It was more than enough to upgrade the Armor of Sovereignty.
With enough left over to fund the next generation of Angels without counting anything else. The only question was finding buyers with deep enough pockets as millions of Artifacts hitting the market at once would strain any single faction's reserves.
He'd figure that out. It was a good problem to have.
Haru dissolved the Space-Time seal with a sweep of his hand, crossed the thousands of kms and came to a stop in front of the assembled Beast and Nature Pantheon.
…
The bows were immediate and deep.
Castle Lords, Rangers, Ancient Goddesses, Beast Gods with millennia of history, all of them bowing with the kind of instinctive deference that didn't require a decision. Even the Castle Lords and Rangers from the original world had long since stopped thinking of Haru as one of their own.
The upcoming Divine War was a real war. It killed people. And Haru had left the category of "Castle Lord" behind somewhere along the way.
Christine stepped forward, smiling, "Congratulations, Your Majesty, for a great victory. From today, no force on the Endless Continent will dare provoke the Great Aetherium."
Behind her, a column of Beast Gods—all High Gods, veterans of the Ancient Era's Divine War—watched Haru with open respect. They'd felt the explosion of his Divine Aura when he broke through.
Although they couldn't read his exact level, the gap in strength was too wide, but the magnitude left no ambiguity. As a late-stage Supreme God before, there was only one level above that, for now that is.
The Goddesses of Nature followed—Selene, the Ocean Goddess, the War Goddess, the Flame Goddess, the Victory Goddess—each offering congratulations in turn. Even they hadn't expected this outcome. Their own elder sister and Patron Goddess Elunara was still in seclusion, fighting towards the peak, but Haru had surpassed her in under two months.
"The credit belongs to everyone here." Haru said, "The Beast Gods and the Nature Pantheon came to my help. That matters, it means our alliance is real, not just empty words."
He let that land, "When the Abyssal Army comes, and it will come, I expect us to stand together the same way. The Endless Continent is ours to defend."
The assembled Gods smiled broadly. The stronger the Great Aetherium grew, the more the alliance was worth. Before the Throne arrived, they were looking forward to advancing and retreating together with Haru. Today had given them every reason to mean it.
"Your Majesty Kazehaya. The war is over. It's time for me to return to my Divine Kingdom."
Selene didn't bother hiding her impatience. She'd been feeling the Supreme God Tier threshold for weeks. If the Great Aetherium hadn't needed her presence here, she'd have been in seclusion already, same as Elunara.
As it turned out, she hadn't contributed much beyond watching, but the experience hadn't been wasted. Witnessing Lysandra and Eveline ascend had given her something: a clearer sense and a sharper feel for what waited on the other side.
She was going to make it. She was certain of it now.
"I wish you every success." Haru said.
Selene smiled, bright and genuine, and took her leave. The other Goddesses of Nature followed. Ocean, Fire, War, Victory, Storm, one by one they bowed and departed.
Soon, the Nature Pantheon had cleared the starry sky entirely. The Castle Lords and Rangers filtered out after them, drifting back towards the Endless Continent.
Still, not everyone had left.
_____________
Who is it that hasn't left yet, and what's their motive?
Stay tuned to find out.
------------------
Become A Member At My Patreon For Access To Bonus Chapters Or Even Multiple Chapters A Day!
» Patreon.com/LordArchduke
Member Shoutouts (Mythril Tier and above):
PetMeSenpai8 (Orichalcum)