Chapter 467: The Power of a God

“You’ve really gone to great lengths to pull this off.”

“It was quite the sight, watching a so-called god, drunk on her power, throw a tantrum after realizing she had been deceived.”

At that, Yula stormed toward Karyl, her expression twisting into a scowl.

It felt as though time had been rewound. Both of them had already experienced this scene—but neither let their guard down.

Boom...! Crash...!

The fierce clash of the gods was deafening, yet Karyl and Yula stood still, gazing only at each other. The silence between them held more tension than the carnage raging around them.

“How did you cast that spell?”

“Getting straight to the point, huh? I like that. You must really be dying to know.”

“Just answer the damn question.”

“Why should I?” Karyl shrugged, which deepened Yula’s frown. “No one shows their hand for no reason. Still, out of respect for your status as a god, I let you know you were under a spell.”

“Don’t be ridiculous! That was—!” Yula cut herself off before finishing. She couldn’t admit that Karyl had deliberately revealed his illusion just to throw her off. After all, it was that move that forced her to descend here and stand in front of him.

By acknowledging Karyl’s scheme, she would admit that a human had manipulated a god.

“You cannot win!” she growled.

“Perhaps. But I won’t lose, either. These drawn-out fights are rather tedious, but I’m quite adept at them. Spending eternity like this doesn’t daunt me.”

Yula said nothing. She could tell Karyl wasn’t bluffing. He meant every word.

“You, a mere human, will fight me for eternity?”

“Yula, you’re under the impression that the humans who don’t fear divine wrath are simply ignorant. But don’t you understand?”

“Understand what?”

“Just how fierce and relentless a human’s rage can be.”

“Tsk!” Yula’s expression contorted further, her murderous intent radiating with unmistakable intensity.

He’s actually serious about this...

This human was clearly mad, but she couldn’t let this go on. Being tossed around by a mere mortal was already an insult to her pride as a god. But with the Dimension Spiral in play, Karyl was more than human—he was an actual threat.

“I should at least acknowledge your courage to see this through. But magic, in the end, is just a mimicry of Divine Power. If creation is the domain of gods, then magic is nothing more than the imitation of that power, a counterfeit created by humans.”

“And?”

“It means your magic is an illusion in itself. No matter how perfect it seems, it will always have flaws. Your spell can and will be broken.”

Yula slowly looked around as she spoke, but her attempt at intimidation was only met with a smirk.

“Hah, but you didn’t even realize you were under a spell.”

Karyl slowly straightened his back and looked down at her. Yula couldn’t tell whether he had grown taller or she had somehow shrunk—but the way he looked down at her was unbearably offensive.

For a moment, she wondered whether this change was part of that spell.

“Then go ahead and find out. Let’s see who wins.” Karyl’s voice dropped to a whisper.

To Yula, it felt as though he spoke directly into her ear.

“Come on, try me.”

“Kh–!!”

Yula’s face twisted in fury as she reached to grab Karyl by the throat.

Clang—!

But Karyl promptly swatted her hand away with his sword, widening the distance between them.

“You can’t hurt me,” Yula sneered.

“Yes, I’ve already confirmed that. No power of this world can harm the creator, not even Toska’s magic.”

The sword he had summoned from Polsetia was the most powerful mana weapon in existence, imbued with the Golden Dragon’s light. And yet, even when he struck Yula with all his might, the blade merely bounced off her body without leaving so much as a scratch. Meanwhile, the sword had pierced the Fifth God’s back with remarkable ease.

As creations of the divine, humans could not harm gods. It was one of the absolute, unchanging laws the gods themselves had established. Most would fall into despair upon realizing this—but not Karyl. In fact, the confirmation of that rule revealed a glimmer of hope to him.

“Suan Hazer has mastered the Absolute Defense, and yet he couldn’t block your attack. So humans cannot land an attack on gods, and they also cannot defend against a god’s attack.”

“That’s only natural. What, did you really think any of your pitiful attacks could harm me?”

“That’s the first thing I learned.”

At that, Yula felt a chill run down her spine. She recalled what Karyl had said just before the illusion ended—that he had found an opening.

“A human’s attack cannot land... but who decides what constitutes an attack and what constitutes defense? Do you decide what happens in that moment? Or do the rules dictate that as well?”

“What...?”

Clang

—!

Karyl’s sword moved again, striking Yula’s wrist. Though it didn’t inflict a wound, the strike flung her arm back, making Yula stagger.

“Would you call that an attack?”

Karyl spun and drove his sword downward. The blade came crashing down on the back of Yula’s hand, and with a sharp metallic screech, it bounced off once more.

The impact drove her to one knee.

“Or would you call this defense?”

Yula stared at him, confused and unsettled.

“Attacks do not land, and defenses do not hold. It may look like an absolutely hopeless situation. But whether a single moment is decided by you or dictated by some rule, it all comes down to the intent of the one who wields the weapon.”

Whenever he swung his sword at Yula, the blade didn’t pierce her—it simply bounced off. Karyl hadn’t missed that subtle detail. His attacks couldn’t reach her, but he could block hers, in a reversed sort of way. It all hinged on one condition: intent.

Unlike Suan, who had consciously tried to defend against her strike, Karyl had to

believe

he was attacking in order to defend.

Of course, forcefully altering one’s own perception while facing a god capable of killing with a single strike was no easy feat.

To survive, Karyl had to defend by attacking. He had to act against his instincts—essentially splitting his perception in the midst of a life-or-death battle.

He can do that... in a fight where every second counts?

Yula was speechless. Not even a Blader could accomplish that, and yet the human before her had somehow made it work.

“How the hell can you do that...?! A mortal who won’t even get to live past a hundred years...”

Despite being a god, Yula wasn’t aware that this mortal had spent eons in Pharel—time that rivaled the unfathomable age of the gods.

“And the second.”

Wham

—!

Yula’s body folded in half.

“Khah...!” A pained gasp escaped her lips.

The blue greaves around Karyl’s legs were smeared with blood. Flesh clung to the armor’s claws—shaped like a beast’s, sharp and savage, clinging to his foot after tearing through the god.

“The power of this world may not work on you, but objects from other dimensions can. The other gods said as much.”

Yula’s expression turned cold.

The illusion magic had shaken her more than she realized, enough that she had forgotten something important. Even before, when Karyl had used Mael’s power, he could not hurt her.

But when he used the Beast’s power, the attack went through.

“The other gods cannot use their full strength because of the restrictions placed on them in this dimension. But that does not mean they are powerless against you.”

“No... It can’t be...”

“Yes, it can. This Master Key wasn’t created by you. It was created by the Lord, and it once belonged to the one who had slain him,” Karyl explained, staring down at her.

Fwoosh

—!

When he lunged at her, the ground cracked beneath his feet, unable to withstand the force. Shards of rock exploded outward.

“You bastard...!”

Yula hastily thrust her hands forward, summoning a crimson shield.

Crack! Bang! Crackkkk—!

Karyl twisted in the air and brought his sword down on her shield from above.

Clang! Crash!

Landing on the shield, he flipped and slammed down again. The shield shattered in a burst of white light, like glass breaking under the weight of a steel hammer.

“Impossible...!” Yula shouted in disbelief as she staggered back.

Before she could say anything else, Karyl landed and charged at her once more. His strikes came fast and clean, their shifting rhythm making them nearly impossible to follow with the naked eye. Every step and every blow resounded like a drumbeat—sharp, precise, and relentless.

Bang—!

As his fist slammed into her cheek, her head snapped to the side and dropped to the ground, bracing herself with her hands.

“...?!”

The onlookers couldn’t believe their eyes. For the first time, Yula, the goddess who commanded this realm, took damage from Karyl, a human of this realm.

“Kh...”

As she lifted her head, blood trickled from the corner of her mouth. After wiping it away, her face twisted into a horrifying grimace.

It wasn’t the physical pain that shook her; it was the blow to her pride. She couldn’t believe this had devolved into a fistfight with a human. Not even her battles against the Bladers, Spirit Kings, and dragons had been so undignified.

“A Master Key may be powerful, but it should never be enough to rival a god... So how the hell did you break my shield?!” she snarled with absolute indignation.

“Isn’t it obvious? You know it’s not just the Master Key that I have. I also possess the Dimension Spiral.”

“The Master Key was made for the Bladers! The Bladers were chosen by the gods and allowed to use that power! But the Dimension Spiral is meant only for gods! Even if you have it, you should never be able to use it properly!”

Her voice was filled with rage, but Karyl merely smiled, as though savoring this.

“No, there is one exception. One human who can use the power of the gods.”

“...What?”

“Lancepho, the one they call the Avatar of the Gods.”

Yula’s eyes began to shake. “No, that’s even more impossible! I made sure—!”

“Do not think of the world as yours alone.” Karyl’s voice was quiet and calm. “You know where I got my Dimension Spiral from. And you also know about the fragments your kind possess.”

As he finished speaking, the rest of the gods stopped fighting and turned their attention to him.

Thud—

The First God hurled the Fifth God’s corpse aside and fixed Karyl with a glare.

“A god?” Karyl scoffed at the sight. “Don’t make me laugh. You picked up a broken shard after the Lord died and decided to play god. That’s all you are.”

Crack

—!

He took one step forward.

“The third and final thing I’ve confirmed is that I can overpower all of you.”

Woooooom...

!

A wave of intense mana radiated from him.

“Yula, you keep forgetting one thing. You may be able to use your full power here because this is your world, but I myself was born in this world. That means this world is mine as well. I, too, can wield the full power of the Lord.”

Karyl turned his gaze toward the four remaining gods behind her.

“...The Lord?!” yelled the woman with serpent lips.

It was hard to say whether she was truly shocked or just trying to take advantage of the moment, but either way, that single exclamation shook the other gods to their core.

“All of you...”

They all flinched against his gaze.

“You’d better think carefully about whose side you’d want to be on.”

Yula felt it in her gut—the very outcome she had feared most, just before opening the dimensional gate, was now unfolding.