While his brothers and sisters were dragging the passing Jibril and Azriel into a "heart-to-heart discussion," Li Zihan was having a rather pleasant time.
In the end, Ling had not been able to refuse him.
Therefore, the scoundrel had quite naturally taken her to bed, and they had spent a night filled with the fires of war.
If not for the fact that his reproductive ability as an ultimate lifeform was abysmally low, the young man—who would have long since gotten every girl around him pregnant—would have moved on to other things. After frying some tofu pouches, he began preparing milk, white sugar, carrageenan, roses, and egg yolks.
Unlike Ling, who loved barbecue and fried tofu, Seele had a preference for sweets.
So, he decided to make some rose pudding.
The man, who often left his lovers in such a state that they couldn't get out of bed to make breakfast no matter how diligent they were, searched for the molds.
He soaked the carrageenan in warm water for half an hour. At the same time, he combined the milk, egg yolks, and white sugar in a container, beating them with chopsticks before heating the mixture on the stove until cooked. Then, he added light cream and crushed rose petals, stirring everything evenly.
Next, he melted the carrageenan in a pot and poured it into the milk mixture, stirring well. While still hot, he poured the liquid into the molds and let it cool.
Once set, they could be turned out. A sprinkle of rose petals for garnish resulted in a beautiful and delicious little snack.
"I really am a genius when it comes to cooking."
The man, whose culinary experience was entirely stolen via his Fire-Bringer Authority, took the pudding, now cooled into the shape of cute little animals, out of the molds and placed them on a plate. Then, he prepared to grill some meat.
Ling was a carnivore. Just making udon with fried tofu pouches wouldn't be enough to satisfy her.
"Hey, hey... your brothers and sisters are out there fighting to the death. Are you sure it's okay for you to be in here cooking for your women?"
The System, whose last appearance was so long ago it was hard to remember, spoke up, tsukkomi-ing the man who could easily observe the entire galaxy by amplifying his clairvoyance with the Herrscher of Reason's power and was definitely aware of what was happening elsewhere.
"What's not okay about it?"
The man, who had already stripped the Authorities from every God-Slayer except Aisha by manipulating timelines and killing them repeatedly before turning them into fuel for his Mage Refinement, shrugged his shoulders.
"They're already dead. As long as I'm not the one who kicks the bucket, no matter how fiercely they fight, they can't die a second time."
"Be that as it may..." The System's voice sounded a bit strange. "Don't you think your life is getting a little... decadent?" It felt like the guy's daily routine was just to draw a lucky boss, hack it to death, and then go home to sleep with cute girls.
"What else am I supposed to do?" Li Zihan raised an eyebrow. "You're well aware of my current power level."
The System fell silent.
Li Zihan's current situation was indeed very unique.
Having chosen to walk the path of Eternal Destruction, he was now at the Third Rank—Creation.
Logically, his power should be at the city-to-country level. Even with the support of Ars Almadel Salomonis and the Chaos Tide from his "mother," Tiamat, he should only be at a planetary level.
Finding opponents who could match him shouldn't be that difficult.
But—
But this bastard's Holy Relic was the Torn Star Sword.
As long as he drew his temporary Holy Relic and channeled the magical energy from Ars Almadel Salomonis or the Chaos Tide, he could act like a deus ex machina, hacking to pieces any opponent who should have been an even match or even had the upper hand.
"Still, you can't just let yourself become this decadent."
The System, whose functions were no longer basic but whose appearances were becoming increasingly rare, tried to reason with him.
"And that's why I've come to fight for the Star Grail," the young man, who was indeed working towards that goal, replied with a smile.
Among the many worlds, the ones he was most deeply connected to were the Moon-lit World and the Honkai World. To completely eliminate certain hidden dangers, he had to seize the throne of the One True God.
The throne of the One True God—more specifically, the thing called the "Star Grail."
The God-Spirit Race was born from the planet, yet connected to the laws of the universe, existing on a plane completely transcendent of the planet itself. They were the ultimate race, born from hopes and prayers, receiving a "Divine Core."
But if too many God-Spirits were born, it would become quite troublesome.
The "Star Grail" was a "Conceptual Device" created to limit the existence of "Gods"—beings capable of magic on the level of race creation—to a single entity.
When it manifests, the authorities of all gods are gathered into a single being, making them the omniscient and omnipotent One True God.
However, manifesting this "Device" that could consolidate the power of all God-Spirits was an incredibly difficult task.
The so-called One True God would wield power over everything, including the God-Spirits themselves.
Suppose there were ten God-Spirits. Even if all ten combined their power, they would only have the strength of ten.
But the condition for the Star Grail's manifestation was to demonstrate an energy that surpassed the sum of all currently manifested God-Spirits' power.
That meant using a power of "ten" to produce a result of "eleven" or more.
Such a thing was practically impossible for the God-Spirits.
So, they devised another method.
If there are ten gods, one only needs to kill the other nine to become the One True God.
This was the thinking of the God-Spirits, who would ultimately offer up their own concepts as fuel for the conceptual device known as the Star Grail.
The surviving god would destroy the "Divine Cores" of the other God-Spirits, absorbing the power released in the process.
By doing so, they would amplify their own power—attaining a strength that surpassed the sum of all God-Spirits and causing the Star Grail to manifest.
"Actually, obtaining the Star Grail is quite simple," the young man whose Holy Relic was the Torn Star Blade—the Divine Sword of Salvation—said with a shrug.
"The easiest way would be to find some random excuse to kick the one god who gives me a headache, Artosh, into another world. Then I could just slice this planet in half and make the Star Grail appear."
"The God of Doubt, Horou; the God of Smithing, Okan; and the God of Forests, Kainath... all of them combined are no match for me. I could become the One True God very easily."
"But, you're worried that if Artosh is missing when the Star Grail manifests, it might cause some problems, aren't you?" the System asked, looking at its host who was clearly not planning to just get rid of Artosh.
"That's right," Li Zihan shrugged again. "Whether the Star Grail is a device that merely aggregates the concepts of the God-Spirits, or if it's the very source of their power, is an unknown."
If it were the former, rashly kicking Artosh out might result in an incomplete Star Grail.
For him, that would undoubtedly be a terrible outcome.
"But—in this world, can you really defeat Artosh?" the System's voice was tinged with anxiety as it looked at its host.
"Indeed. In this world, the God of War is invincible."
"But—the source of his power is his Divine Core, isn't it?"
As if it were a complete non-sequitur, the young man suddenly broke into a smile. He spoke to the System with perfect composure.
"The Void Archives once amplified the power of the Star of Eden ten thousandfold through pure understanding. Why can't I analyze the God of War's Divine Core and become a master of conflict who surpasses even him?"
TL/N: unfortunately chapter 15 got blown out of existence and i cant find anything.