Chapter 1104 Divine Stench
Chapter 1104 Divine Stench
As the situation on the ground seemed to reach a momentary pause, Seref and his spirit companion rode across the sky while invisible to everything. This ability belonged to the Bookkeeper, who used it to observe the stories that he sought.
"He has thrown away the name you gave him," muttered the spirit as it began writing frantically, its legs moving to keep the bicycle afloat midair. Riding behind him was Seref, who looked at the situation below with a blank expression. "His name is now…"
"Don't dare say it," said Seref as he pressed his lips together, his brows furrowing. "I don't know how he learned of that name, but this is bad."
"He is winning?"
"But he is revealing his true identity," said Seref while gritting his teeth. "Netherborne is not a random name. It holds a lot of significance for Devaheim and its gods, making him a bigger threat than just a powerful demon. Everything is happening too fast!"
"That means he is surpassing our expectations and theirs," said the spirit as it kept writing down into the thick book. "Your son is a wonder, Seref! But I have to know… what does Netherborne mean?"
"A forgotten name that belongs to a powerful bloodline of demons," answered Seref with a frown as he stared at the ground. "Our ancestors hid that name for countless years after they fled toward Earth and hid there for countless generations."
"If they are so powerful, why did they hide?"
"Netherborne Family led the rebellion against the gods, making them the target of every religion in the universe," said Seref with a sigh. "It does not matter now that he has revealed it. We can only delay the inevitable."
"How did he learn of this name, if your ancestors hid it so well?"
"It might be during his training, but I have no idea what he did," said Seref as he stared at his son, who now looked to be older than him. His eyes revealed wisdom beyond their years while his expression exhibited colossal confidence. "Arthur is no longer the son I can control."
The spirit was quiet as it stared at the situation below. Although the pair was confident about their ability to hide their presence, a sudden gush of divine aura made the spirit flinch. Seref looked at the hole below and saw brilliant light seeping out of it.
"Artemis has abandoned her body," muttered Seref as he clenched his fist. "We need to back away or we might get caught up in the aftermath. The ensuing battle might destroy this tower and shatter this realm to pieces."
"How do we prevent that?"
"We can no longer interfere with this," decided Seref as he pulled his hood to cover his face. "If the gods notice my actions throughout the countless timelines, all of our efforts will be in vain."
"That is unfortunate," said the spirit as it closed its book, sighing. "His story is the only one I cannot summon. Arthur Netherborne is unbound by time, space, or the powers that transcend them."
"As I said… do not call him that name, or even record it in your little book," said Seref with a frown. "His name must remain a secret, and that should be our next task. If we cannot prevent it from being leaked out… earth will be destroyed."
As the brilliant light shone from within the hole, Arthur commanded his comrades to step back. They began clearing the wounded and warning the surrounding armies about the incoming battle. Instead of diving straight in, Arthur took his time to wait for his opponent to arrive.
"Flesh is too restricting," said a voice, neither female or male, from within the brilliant light. "You are the first mortal to make me shed away my mortal form and become divine."
"There is a certain creature in my world that devours everything," said Arthur as he raised his head while his hair was swaying in the storm. "The moment I smell a foul stench, I know it is nearby. I now realize that the stench did not belong to nothingness, it was the divine stench."
"Impudent!" roared the divine light as it began gathering to form a certain creature. Although the creature had a humanoid body, it looked akin to Cassius with nothing but light leaving its body. "Suffer the divine justice!"
Artemis had six arms in her current form and three bows. She pulled on the bowstring, compressing moonlight into giant arrows befitting her current size. Arthur looked like an ant as the goddess aimed her attack at him. Everything began to disintegrate because of the moonlight, causing the entire second floor to shake. Soil broke down to particles while trees were pulled out, twisting and breaking. The three moonlight arrows began devouring everything to grow.
Looking at the situation from the sky, Seref and his spirit realized that Artemis was akin to a mountain in her current form. Her humanoid figure, although lacking in features, was colossal. As for her three moonlight arrows, they resembled massive battleships awaiting orders.
Facing such a monstrous entity, whose aura alone was enough to kill normal humans, was a tiny figure wearing nothing but black pants. His golden eyes betrayed no arrogance, but his smile was full of confidence.
"Are you done, Artemis?" he asked, disregarding everything she had showcased. The goddess paused for a second before moving, releasing the three moonlight arrows. They continued to devour the world as they came crashing down toward him.
As he faced the three incoming arrows, Arthur raised his head to look at their glow. They resembled three moons heading his way while growing in size. In response to this flashy attack, Arthur raised his dagger.
"Unleash your wrath, Nightmare!" commanded Arthur as he swung his dagger at the three moonlight arrows. The blade released a black arch across the sky, as if cleaving the world in half.
A million voices echoed in the world once the black arch appeared. Their cries of injustice came from within the black arch that overtook the world. In a single motion, the arch overtook the moonlight arrows and turned them into nothingness. Then, it cleaved the goddess in half as she let out a scream of agony.
"How can you cancel my moonlight?!" roared Artemis as she tried to maintain her divine form, growing more furious at his actions. However, Arthur was no longer willing to chat with her. He jumped in the air and kicked space, compressing it enough to turn into a bullet aiming at the goddess.
Boom!
Arthur broke through the barrier of sound as he became nothing but a black line across the sky. His dagger unleashed another cry as he slashed again toward the goddess, giving her another nasty wound that left her screaming.
Boom!
After he passed through the moonlight and landed on the other side, a crater formed beneath him. The goddess could not understand how a mortal could hurt her in such a way and kept screaming at him.
"What are you?!" roared Artemis as she flared like the sun, letting moonlight destroy everything around her. Arthur turned around and released his dagger from his hand, letting it fall on the ground.
"Your worst enemy," answered Arthur as his blade struck the ground, letting out an explosion of darkness that overtook the light in the world. In just a short few moments, the moonlight was no longer seen, and there was nothing but darkness.
Artemis could be seen within the darkness, frantic about the disappearing moonlight. As she looked for her enemy, it was not far before a golden flame appeared before her. She flinched with shock as she saw the golden mana, unable to understand how a mortal could wield it.
"That mana… it belongs to the gods! How can the Demon King carry such a thing?! How can you negate our abilities and divine mana?! I knew that Azkahar was fostering the enemy of the gods, but you are full of contradictions! You should not be this…"
"And you should not exist in this realm," said the man who stepped forward through the golden mana, his fury apparent for the first time. "Leave the lower realms alone, arrogant gods. You have done enough harm as it is. The moment another god descends to a lower realm… they will find me there to hunt them down."
"A mortal hunting down gods?" muttered Artemis before she burst out laughing, her despair turning into maniacal belief as she remembered the ones backing her. "Even if I were a higher god, I am nothing compared to those ruling Devaheim! You are against the strongest beings in the universe, mortal!"
"Let those beings descend to the lower realms, and they can taste my wrath," said Arthur while gritting his teeth. Behind him was a giant shadow of the kingdom of wrath as millions of voices screamed at Artemis. "One last thing, Artemis. You call me mortal, but I have a name, and you should memorize it."
Artemis was about to answer when she saw herself growing small. The golden mana covered the black dagger as it unleashed a cry of wrath before Arthur Netherborne rushed toward her.