It was no exaggeration to say the entire battlefield descended into chaos in an instant. All the Star Druids in the basin launched attacks on Douglas, who stood in their midst. Those closer drew blue longswords forged from Star Magic, while those farther away drew their bows and fired arrows.
Simultaneously, the Warlocks Daphne had brought immediately counterattacked the Star Druids, providing support for Douglas.
In a flash, the battlefield erupted with a dazzling display of Star Magic and Faerie Magic, like a fireworks show. As the center of the conflict, Douglas naturally faced the greatest pressure.
He was one man against an entire Druid tribe—and corrupted Druids at that, theoretically even stronger than their original selves. If this had been the old Douglas, he likely wouldn't have lasted long before falling.
As a member of the original four-person team, Cipher was one of Okhema's twelve Demigods. Aria, now wielding a Divine Artifact and bound by a contract with the Northern Wolf God, was a complete cheat character.
As for Feidric, a genius Wizard, the very word "Wizard" was synonymous with "cheat character." In this light, Douglas seemed to be the most ordinary of the four.
In the early stages, he could rely on his physical prowess, armor, and massive weapons to steamroll weaker enemies. But when facing foes like a corrupted Druid tribe or even an Outer God, his strength naturally fell short.
Cipher glanced at Douglas, surrounded by enemies, and mulled over these thoughts. Yet, she had no intention of intervening to save him, because...
A crimson pillar of light suddenly erupted from the center of the encirclement, unleashing a torrent of divine power. Douglas's body rapidly expanded—not through the grotesque flesh-growth of the Mother of Flesh, but by proportionally enlarging, much like the effect of the Enlarge Person spell.
In mere moments, Douglas transformed into a small giant over five meters tall. His great axe scaled up with him. Ignoring the blue blades and arrows raining down on him, he raised his axe, bent low, and unleashed a sweeping horizontal strike.
BOOM!
The axe was so massive that the Druids it struck weren't merely cut; they were pulverized, exploding into clouds of blood mist under the unparalleled force.
[Divine Descent: God of War!]
Remember before they set out for the Great Forest, when Tribios had kept Douglas behind? She had given him something: a Priest Divine Artifact, purified and free of all corruption.
With this artifact, Douglas naturally gained the ability to summon the God of War and invoke Divine Descent. Tribios's reasoning was simple: Douglas was currently the weakest member of the four-person team, so his strength needed a boost.
However, when she gave him the artifact, Tribios learned for the first time that Douglas was already a Favored One—he already possessed the Divine Descent skill on his own.
Upon discovering this, Tribios had been utterly stunned. Holy crap, she'd thought, so you're not normal either?
However, even as a Favored One, Douglas wouldn't just go crying to his god for help over every minor issue. Since Cipher had always been there to cover for them, the four-person team had never faced a truly life-threatening crisis, leaving Douglas with no opportunity to use this skill.
But that didn't mean the Priest Divine Artifact was useless. If anything, possessing it would further deepen Douglas's connection to the God of War, amplifying the power of his Divine Descent and boosting his combat strength.
And indeed, the moment Douglas received the Priest Divine Artifact, he immediately sensed something... The God of War, that old deity... seemed to have already perished.
Strangely, though the god was gone, his power remained, as if a portion had been intentionally left behind.
Normally, Divine Descent involves a god taking over a believer's body, transforming them into an avatar to wield divine power. But when Douglas used Divine Descent, it was this remnant of the God of War's power that entered his body, and Douglas himself remained in control.
Originally, this divine power could only sustain Douglas in battle for three to five minutes at most. But with the Priest Divine Artifact's amplification, that duration was extended to three hours, and the power's quality was enhanced, making it even stronger.
It was no exaggeration to say that the current Douglas was virtually indistinguishable from the God of War himself. The only flaw was his inexperience in wielding such a sudden surge of immense power, which made his strength somewhat inflated and unrefined. Even so, this transformation was utterly absurd.
BOOM—!!!
Douglas ignored all attacks from the Star Druids. Their blue Star Magic felt like mere tickles against his current form, completely ineffective. In contrast, a single swing of his axe could shake the very earth.
Cipher finally tore her gaze away from Douglas and refocused on the gradually shaping mass of flesh. Wisps of the Mother of Flesh's aura emanated from it—the transformation was nearly complete.
This new enemy was unquestionably far stronger than the red dragon from before. Merely by absorbing a fraction of the Mother of Flesh's power through its transformation, its aura was already approaching the level of a Greater Divine Power.
This Outer God was so powerful that it had forced the Twelve True Gods of the Main World to go to extreme lengths to create the World Barrier.
However, Cipher merely narrowed her eyes, still having no intention of letting Phainon intervene. Her reasoning remained the same: Aria's team had experienced so much and grown so strong that their power was no longer what it once was. Defeating such an enemy was not impossible.
What was truly absurd, though, was that Phainon could clearly sense something. He could have defeated the red dragon earlier in his normal form, without needing to transform into his Divine Phainon Form. And now, facing this avatar of the Mother of Flesh... if he chose to fight, he still wouldn't need to transform. His normal form would be enough.
So, who's the real boss here?
As Phainon silently grumbled to himself, he couldn't help but look up at the sky. The Druid Artifact, the corrupted Star Circle, the transformation into the Mother of Flesh... Could all of this be the Outer God's true killing blow?
If that were the case, then the Outer God—the Mother of Flesh's true body—must be watching this place right now.