Chapter 292

The atmosphere on the battlefield grew eerily calm.

As Leonard and Cenn Cruach stared each other down, no one could move freely. The otherworldly forces, with their heightened instincts, were unable to make a move, and even the allied forces couldn’t swing their swords or mutter a single spell.

Every movement felt as though it could trigger the start of a catastrophe, and the pressure was so overwhelming it seemed as though their spines would snap under it.

The Sword God of Cardenas, returning after a thousand years.

The Great Evil God, barely crawling out from the pile of corpses of the God-Slaying War.

The two of them recognized each other immediately as enemies, and they both instinctively knew that once the battle began, it would only end with one of them completely destroyed.

Unconcerned, Leonard saw this as the inevitable course of action, while Cenn Cruach looked visibly uncomfortable, as if it were hard for him to accept this reality. And understandably so.

Cenn Cruach had endured millennia of waiting for a chance to regain his strength since the fall of the old age. He had borrowed power from the Outer Gods just to barely complete his divinity, yet now, the possibility of his own destruction stood before him. It was nothing short of a bitter irony.

—O’ enemy.

Thus, Cenn Cruach decided to negotiate first. It was a puzzling move for Leonard, who had already resigned himself to the notion of a life-or-death battle, but sensing the intent, he responded.

“What is it?”

—The fact that you have appeared just before the completion of my great mission is undoubtedly an ill omen for both of us. Either I will fall to you or you will fall to me. There is also a possibility that both our lives will be wasted in vain.

“Well, I can’t deny that.”

Leonard was the new, inexperienced owner of the Divine Throne, whereas Cenn Cruach was still an immature god with tremendous potential, but his divinity was like that of a newborn, fragile and unstable. In this state, either one could kill the other or be killed.

With weapons far too powerful for either of them to wield properly, any mistake could lead to their doom. Even years of training might not suffice, but they had encountered one another as soon as they had both just reached a new breakthrough.

Cenn Cruach felt that his opponent was no different from himself.

—I propose a ceasefire.

“...A ceasefire?”

Cenn Cruach took Leonard’s confusion as a positive sign to elaborate further.

—The divinity within me is heavily tilted towards darkness and evil. Death, suffering, tragedy, and trials are all my domain. I ask that you acknowledge the Underworld as my domain. In exchange, I will ensure that my forces do not trespass upon your lands, the surface.

“Does that mean you’ll only take the Nine Hells?”

—This place is where I was born, so I cannot yield it. However, I will cede everything else to the rightful ruler of the Divine Throne. If you swear to maintain the non-aggression pact, I will step back.

Despite Cenn Cruach’s seemingly humble tone, his offer was a practical decision. No matter how high his divinity was, directly opposing the rightful ruler of the Divine Throne was impossible. Leonard’s lack of experience made him difficult to control, but if he had been able to fully control his newfound powers, Cenn Cruach would have been stripped of his divinity and banished.

The only way for Cenn Cruach to secure his life was through a ceasefire.

“I see.”

Leonard finally understood Cenn Cruach’s intentions, and he couldn’t hide his contempt for the blatant self-preservation at play.

For Cenn Cruach, the only chance to defeat Leonard, the rightful ruler of the Divine Throne, was right now. If they entered into an agreement, Leonard would be untouchable in this dimension, even by Chief Gods. Then, given time, he would fully claim the Divine Throne.

Rather than risk uncertain odds, Cenn Cruach chose to ensure his survival by claiming only the Underworld. If Leonard accepted this, while he couldn’t destroy Cenn Cruach, the safety of the Middle Realm would be guaranteed. When one carried the weight of life on their shoulders, rushing into a battle with slim chances of success was an act of folly.

“...”

When he reached the Deification Tier, Leonard’s perception had improved by a few times, and it was now much more advanced than when he was in the Demigod Tier. No, even comparing both would be an embarrassment.

Just by closing his eyes and expanding his consciousness, he could sense the thoughts of everyone still alive around him.

“...O’ Divine Throne.”

When Leonard finally spoke, many assumed he would accept the deal.

It seemed more reasonable to bet on the safety of the Middle Realm, ensuring security in exchange for the Underworld. Those who had borne such burdens before could empathize with his dilemma, their eyes closing in solemn understanding.

“I hereby return the title of the King of the Underworld to the Void Deity Hades and recognize him as the rightful ruler of the Underworld.”

The words struck like thunder, causing everyone’s eyes to widen in shock.

The first to realize the situation was Hades, who, having consumed his own existence, had become semi-transparent. He chuckled and bowed on one knee, showing a level of respect never before given, even to his ancient brothers.

At the same time, Hades’ form solidified, and he regained his full authority as the King of the Underworld, restoring his true divinity. Being recognized by the Divine Throne once again reinstated his status as a Chief God.

—I bow before you, King of Gods.

Furthermore, Hades’ return as the King of the Underworld was a severe blow to Cenn Cruach, who had hoped to control the Underworld. A portion of his divine powers related to death—responsible for more than a third of his existence—began to flow out to Hades. It was like splitting a pie: when two people share, both lose.

Now drastically weakened, Cenn Cruach stared in disbelief, eyes wide. He growled at Leonard.

—What, what are you trying to do!?

“I have no intention of negotiating with a bastard who submitted before the battle began,” Leonard responded coldly, raising his divine sword high to draw attention from all sides of the battlefield. “You will pay for the crime of colluding with the outer dimensions to desecrate the world, right here and now!”

* * *

As soon as Leonard declared his intention to destroy Cenn Cruach, the allied forces that had received the order moved swiftly. They were a step ahead of the otherworldly forces, whose instincts had frozen them under the pressure of the two absolute beings. The allied forces, with their superior reasoning, recovered more quickly.

With a single strike from the Mirror Sword, the heads of the monsters were severed cleanly.

Parallel Infinite Fatal Strike

One of Thousand

With only a little bit of aura and stamina left, and despite being soaked in blood, Demian still kept a firm grip on his sword. He was a true knight of the Cardenas family.

His example inspired those around him to grit their teeth and continue.

With unyielding determination, the mages held onto their bellies—their insides were burning from repeated casting—and completed their final spells. Pilots who had exhausted their energy sources leaped from their Titans and began collecting the weapons scattered on the ground.

It was a true battle of agony and struggle.

We must hurry.

The allied forces had long surpassed their limits. Humanity had gathered its elite, training them for three years, clinging to the last hope, but this surge of temporary bravery would only last as long as their resolve held. The moment their spirit wavered, they would be crushed.

Leonard’s divine sword flickered with a spectrum of colors, and with it, dozens of beams of light shot forward, each one cutting through space and time itself in a series of devastating strikes. Cenn Cruach was slashed in multiple places, blood pouring from his wounds.

—You... a mere mortal-born, insignificant godling!

“You shouldn’t be speaking like that, having been born from the remnants of a god,” Leonard retorted.

The battle for those in the realm of True Gods was different from previous conflicts. Unlike before, where physical combat was the focus, this fight centered on the realm of concepts—denying the opponent’s powers, overwhelming them, and diminishing their immortality or divinity.

Both Leonard and Cenn Cruach were still immature in terms of their divinity, so they began fighting much as they had before, without much difference from earlier levels of power. It was a brawl.

His movement is strange,

Leonard thought, struggling to comprehend the unfamiliar dynamics.

From the center of gravity to the inertia, it was impossible to discern how Cenn Cruach’s body functioned. Leonard managed to dodge one of Cenn Cruach’s kicks and landed three quick strikes with his sword. Thanks to the Divine Throne, Leonard could harm Cenn Cruach, but the Great Evil God’s power overwhelmingly surpassed his. Despite landing three clean hits, only a few muscle fibers were severed.

To deal a meaningful blow, Leonard would have to strike deeper.

—What a joke!

As expected, Cenn Cruach ignored Leonard’s sword strikes. He sprouted four pairs of arms made of blood, launching waves of mysterious energy similar to but distinct from the palm strikes of martial arts. These were not normal attacks; they had a curse-like quality, affecting the body directly through causality and ignoring defense and evasion.

Any mortal would have been killed multiple times over by such attacks, but Leonard’s muscular structure simply contracted momentarily and then returned to its original state.

Yet, despite that, it was not a brief moment for Cenn Cruach.

Baaaam!!

With an overwhelming force, Leonard was blasted backward, his sword still in position as he flew for kilometers before finally stopping.

The difference in strength was undeniable. What would have been a finishing blow from someone at the Demigod Tier was easily considered a couple of normal attacks from a True God. The speed of Cenn Cruach, now so close, was beyond what the laws of physics could handle. The space itself seemed to bend, as if the laws of nature could no longer apply.

Born from the remains of a god, Cenn Cruach was naturally stronger in combat. As a transcendental being, he had the advantage in a direct confrontation.

“...So this is how we match each other. Seems like we can exchange some hits,” Leonard murmured, realizing that his opponent’s movements could be countered.

With a single punch capable of shattering mountains and splitting seas, Leonard stood his ground, not even retreating an inch. His stance was too crude to be called a textbook punch.

Even at the speed of light, if one could read a step ahead, it would be possible to turn things around. Leonard had taken a few blows, not yet fully understanding the divine senses and range of a divine being like Cenn Cruach, but now it was time for the tides to turn.

𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

This was a truth that Ancestor Cardenas had once proven. Even True God beings could be defeated by martial force.

—Wha-what is this?! Wh-wha-what what what what is this?! What in the world—?!?

With ten arms now writhing in frantic motion, Cenn Cruach rapidly punched with all ten arms, but none of them were able to hit Leonard. It was as if the very space around him had become an impenetrable zone, causing Cenn Cruach to punch at the air. Space distortion? Time warping? Material transference? None of these terms applied. It was an incomprehensible phenomenon beyond Cenn Cruach’s understanding.

It was a strength that a monster born to be powerful simply through his existence would never understand.

I will let the force flow using the transformation of energy, applying just enough pressure to control it—like shifting a thousand pounds with only four ounces—before deftly redirecting it as if transplanting flowers or grafting branches.

Even with basic martial knowledge, when applied with depth, it could manifest phenomena that approached divine harmony. The attacks from Cenn Cruach twisted, bent, and rebounded, pummeling through his own monstrous body, carving it up.

Leonard’s attacks would require dozens of blows to break through a single part of Cenn Cruach’s body, but the monster’s own destructive power was eroding him from within, rapidly approaching the limits of his strength.

Crack.

Leonard’s sharp Dragon Eyes caught the subtle fracture forming on Cenn Cruach’s neck. It was an opening.

Even among divine beings, those of humanoid form often housed their soul’s core in the brain. If only the head remained, they could revive or restore their body, but once the head was destroyed, even immortality would be lost. This was why many ancient myths recorded such tales.

I will sever his head with one strike.

With the Five Elements Divine Sword, Leonard could sever Cenn Cruach’s divine essence. If he decapitated him and tore out his heart, no matter how immense the Great Evil God’s dormant power was, it would all be futile before the Great Evil God could show his ability.

Leonard adjusted his stance, slightly lowering it. However, Cenn Cruach lacked the perception to notice this subtle change.

Just as the two absolute beings were about to unleash their killing intent, an unexpected crisis emerged from beyond. It was the struggle of the Outer God Balor, who had managed to survive until the end.