---o---
"Sure enough, you don't have the ability to bring out the power of that sword."
Looking as if he had witnessed something incredibly interesting, the boy laughed after having just 'killed' the Warlord named Verethragna with a single strike.
Just moments ago, he had suppressed Mithra, who wielded the Divine Sword of Salvation, with the Omnipotent Halo (Ars Almadel Salomonis) and killed Verethragna.
No, saying he 'killed' him wasn't quite right.
It should be said that he let Verethragna escape.
Li Zihan, who possessed the Authority Ring of Usurpation, did not receive a new Authority.
This was a very illogical occurrence.
He had utilized the Fire-Bringer to steal the Ring of Usurpation from a God of Steel, and this Ring was the very foundation of the God-Slaying Ritual.
Theoretically speaking, as long as he killed a god, he would automatically gain a portion of power.
However, when Verethragna was 'killed,' he fished up absolutely nothing.
From this, it wasn't hard to guess that Verethragna wasn't thoroughly dead yet.
He most likely used the Ram incarnation to resurrect himself, Li Zihan thought aimlessly.
Among Verethragna's Ten Incarnations, the Ram corresponded to the Authority of resurrection.
However, none of that really mattered.
The boy, holding the complete upper hand in his battle against the King of the End, Mithra, looked at the god opposite him and smiled gently.
But in Mithra's eyes, that gentle smile belonged to a vicious beast walking out from the primordial wild.
"It looks like the collective weapon of the gods is still too difficult for you to control. You simply cannot bring out its power. In fact, one could say you can't even release a corner of its true strength."
Sharp words, like knives stabbing into a heart, fell upon Mithra's ears.
The collective armament of the gods—the Divine Sword of Salvation—was simply not something he could master.
"You are not my opponent. This is something we both know."
Very calmly, the boy smiled and said, "If I'm not mistaken, the reason you specifically chose Verethragna from among the gods of Zoroastrianism to assist you is that you felt you might be defeated, and you needed an assistant to succeed you when necessary."
The candidate for the King of the End could only be a God of Steel.
Among the Persian gods, aside from Mithra, only Verethragna was suitable.
"So what if it is? And so what if it isn't?"
Indeed, sensing that his body was nearing its limit and that he might not necessarily defeat the Sage's Child, the God-King looked at the guy who was even more terrifying than he had imagined. His heart felt heavy, as if a hundred mountains were pressing down on it.
The enemy's strength completely exceeded his imagination.
The power contained within that halo hanging high in the sky could even destroy a planet in a single strike.
And that was simply not an enemy that he, a King of the End running on fumes, could rival.
Even if he squeezed his final Divine Lifespan dry, the salvation light of the Divine Sword could only reach the level of slicing a planet.
Clearly, just that level would be insufficient to kill the enemy.
God-Slayers must die!
An anomaly among God-Slayers deserves death even more!
Therefore, he had to bet more chips on the table.
The stubborn, bordering on mad, God-King gazed at the Divine Realm beneath his feet, and an answer formed in his heart.
Let this Divine Realm become the burial ground for myself and the Demon King.
Then—
He called upon his other subordinate.
Beside Mithra appeared a "Lion Stone Mask." The mask floated in mid-air. From the sides of the mask, modeled after the King of Beasts, grew "living snakes."
That was Zurvan.
Zurvanism is a branch of Zoroastrianism, but contrary to traditional Zoroastrian views, it believes in the existence of a primordial entity—Zurvan.
The cause of Zurvanism's emergence is still debated.
Some believe it was a product developed under the religious freedom of the Achaemenid Empire; others believe Zurvan was a god absorbed from other religions; still others believe Zurvanism was the product of combining Zoroastrianism with Babylonian-Akkadian religion.
In Zurvanism, Zurvan is the god of infinite time and space. He is the "One," abstract, neutral, emotionless, and distinguishes neither good nor evil.
This setting is actually quite unfriendly for a god.
After all, the strength of a divine spirit, aside from their status, is related to the degree of their "self."
Because he has no emotions, Zurvan's raw power is weak.
However, his Authority does not weaken due to a lack of "self-awareness."
The two snakes bared their fangs at Li Zihan, emitting threatening hisses, and then exhaled a breath to the side.
Then—
The flow of time began to accelerate.
The Warlord named Verethragna appeared in this world once again.
[Incarnation: The Ram]
An incarnation that can recover from any injury within a few hours, but must be activated by one's own will when on the verge of death.
It allows recovery from any injury within approximately two hours; more accurately, it is the rebirth and resurrection of the flesh after dying once.
After the flow of time was accelerated, the Warlord manifested once more.
He stood behind Mithra again, ready to fight side-by-side.
"It seems our situation is not optimistic."
Looking at the God of Contracts gripping the divine sword tightly, Verethragna's eyes flickered.
The Divine Sword of Salvation is the collective armament of the gods.
It is a weapon that, even when used by gods or demons, consumes their spirit, energy, and even their Divine Lifespan.
Mithra, who was already nearing the exhaustion of his oil and lamp, did not have the ability to display its full power.
No, forget about displaying the ultimate power of the Divine Sword.
Whether Mithra could even display a might equivalent to that halo in the sky was an extremely difficult matter.
Otherwise, that arrogant King of Rakshasas would have long since been shattered by the Divine Sword of Salvation.
"Shall I go in?"
The candidate for the King of the End, whose Divine Lifespan was still ample, whispered to the current King of the End while watching the monster that had truly revealed its fangs with vigilance.
"Verethragna, you and Zurvan... retreat immediately."
Before Verethragna could react, Zurvan, who was both the God of Time and the God of Space, expanded his domain and swallowed him up.
The eyes of the God-King, who had made his choice, surged with the will of destruction.
As if announcing the apocalypse, the God-King raised the divine sword high toward the firmament, and a magnificent aura began to condense.
Synchronized with that rising, expanding aura, the Divine Realm began to collapse.
Yes.
The Divine Realm was collapsing.
Like paper being burned to ash by fire, large swathes of the Divine Realm's space shattered and then scattered like paper ash in the wind.
The Divine Realm had become a sacrifice.
The God-King, whose Divine Lifespan was being swallowed along with the world, roared loudly.
"God-slaying beast raised in the doting affection of the father! Sleep eternally with me in this Divine Realm!!"