Chapter 833: The Singularity.
"So? How was the other side?"
"Weak, but strong enough to easily kill them all." Victor declared.
"Heh... You sure are a monster, Progenitor."
He went alone against an entire planet and came back. If that isn't called being a monster, what else should she call it?
Victor didn't care about Albedo as he looked at Evie with a serious gaze. "You're lucky I'm here, Evie."
"If I weren't here, this place would probably have been conquered, and you would have been killed."
"... Is the other side really that strong?" After a moment of hesitation, she asked.
"Yes, but their strength isn't individual. It's in their unity."
"Unity?"
"Yes. The whole planet is united under a pantheon. I looked at each of those gods, and although they aren't great individually, they're just below Zeus in terms of individual strength."
"They are united, they act together, and clearly, unlike our lazy gods, they've trained in the art of war."
"Even though the mortal world is backward, their gods are more competent than the ones I know." With just a glance at the world, Victor could see many things.
Mainly, that world seemed to be a fantasy world.
"That's interesting. The entire planet has only one flag, huh." Albedo spoke. "The planet must be quite young."
Victor simply nodded at Albedo's words, but he didn't stop looking at Evie, and then he continued his words:
"What's more dangerous, a spoiled Zeus with strong but uncontrollable power, or a group of nerfed versions of Zeus with trained power, and acting together like an army?"
Evie, and no one else, answered him because the answer was obvious.
The army was stronger. Although quality was an important factor, the power of numbers couldn't be ignored.
Look at the demons; they are a perfect example. Despite there being few really strong beings, demons are a threat to everyone because of their high number of individuals.
And that's what makes Victor dangerous. After all, as Demon King, all those demons need only a few words to go to war.
"... Regardless of what happened, we could have handled our problem on our own. We don't need your help, Demon King."
"The reason I said you would have been conquered or killed is because there was an annoying being on the other side." Victor floated back to his chair and sat down, crossing his legs, resting his body against the chair, and resting his face on his hand.
"An annoying being?" Albedo asked.
"The leader of the other gods, the God King of that planet, is a god who controls space," Victor replied.
Evie shuddered slightly when she understood the implications of Victor's words.
"Well, damn, that explains a lot." Albedo sighed and looked at her daughter. "This time, you were very careless."
Evie bit her lip and looked at her daughter, who had warned her about her 'bad feeling.'
For a moment, the thought that she should have listened to her daughter crossed her mind, but she shook her head. How could she stop years of effort just because of a 'feeling'? It was simply ridiculous.
In other words, she almost killed her entire species due to her haste.
A strange atmosphere fell around them as Evie's daughters just looked at their mother, who seemed like a child who had just been scolded by her parents.
A sight they had never seen before from their queen.
Victor observed this situation with neutral eyes while conversing with Roxanne inside.
[Darling, why didn't you absorb some individuals from the other side? That way, we could have a better understanding of these beings.]
[That's not necessary... not yet, at least.]
[Why not?]
[Because this is not my problem. It's the witches' problem.]
[... Still, I think you should have observed some individuals.] Roxanne felt that Victor was being naive but didn't comment on it. After all, she knew her husband well, and he was anything but naive.
[No problem; we can do that whenever we want. For now, I'll let the witches handle their own problem, and in case of a dangerous situation... I'll offer them a deal.] Victor smiled.
[A deal with the devil... Fufufufu, I understand what you want to do now.] Roxanne laughed when she heard Victor's thoughts on the matter.
"Hmm?" Victor suddenly narrowed his eyes when he felt a change in the portal. He abruptly stood up from where he was sitting and floated toward the portal.
"This..." He opened his eyes wide in shock.
Albedo looked curiously at the portal with her senses, and just like Victor, she also opened her eyes wide in shock.
"Impossible!" They both exclaimed at the same time.
[Natalia, come to my location now and bring Zaladrac and Jeanne.]
[Y-Yes! I'll do that now!] Natalia was startled by the sudden voice in her head, but when she recognized the voice, she wasted no time and went to do as ordered.
Victor looked up, specifically at the shield surrounding Arcane, as his eyes glowed faintly.
And then he spoke in the draconic language.
"Open."
Evie opened her eyes wide when she felt a breach in her defenses.
"Demon King, what are you—"
"I opened a path for my group to enter this place."
Did Victor need to do this? No, he didn't need to. After all, his wives were inside a dimension in his soul, and he could simply create a portal here. But by doing so, they would know that Victor could bypass the defenses of this place.
Normally, this wouldn't be a problem since they were just witches, a 'weak' faction from his perspective.
But... the situation changes when there are powerful gods watching this place.
Victor frowned for a few seconds when he felt two ravens several kilometers away, observing this location.
Because of these beings, Victor had to keep his trump card hidden. The trump card that allowed him to invade a pantheon alone and open a portal in the middle of the pantheon, summoning all the forces of hell and his own world.
"You can't do this!"
"This is my territory! I—." When Evie was about to say more, she was suddenly silenced forcibly.
"Silence," Victor spoke in the draconic language.
"Mmmmmhmmm!?"
"You have no idea what kind of mess you've just opened, do you?" An overwhelming pressure emanated from Victor's body.
Evie shuddered when she felt the gaze and pressure from that man.
When she tried to say something again, she saw her mother floating in the air as hundreds of magic circles began to appear around her. The woman's face was completely serious, very different from her usual self.
Emilly, Selena, and Evie's daughters opened their eyes wide when they saw how many magic circles the woman was creating.
It was all so complex, so well-structured, and each magic circle was perfectly connected to the others. Instead of magic, it was more like a work of art.
"Beautiful..." Emilly murmured as she followed her eyes in this spectacle.
Albedo's magic circle surrounded the entire castle and increased the defense several times.
"She took my territory by force..." Evie was speechless; she never thought the difference between her and her mother was so great.
"Progenitor."
"Yes, leave it to me." Victor spread his wings, and soon, a red power with hints of black began to emanate from his body.
They didn't need to talk much since they had the same idea.
They needed to reduce the influence of the portal in this place.
In the next moment-
The world was painted red.
"This... This... This is ridiculous!" Evie exclaimed as she fell to her knees on the ground, not even realizing she could speak again.
"Just how much energy does he have!?" Emilly asked incredulously.
This oppressive sensation lasted only a few seconds because Victor soon spoke in the draconic language.
"Block. Control."
Soon, all that red energy focused on the portal, creating a dome around it.
Using Victor's energy as the central piece, Albedo began to move her hands, and like a conductor, she started creating various magic circles of different sizes.
10... 100... 1000... 10,000... 1,000,000!
One million magic circles were created in just a few seconds!
The witches could only watch this phenomenon in disbelief, with a sense of admiration and a bit of inferiority.
"My grandmother... She's on a completely different level," Emilly couldn't help but think.
Creating so many magic circles that intricately connect to each other was simply a divine feat.
When all the magic circles merged with the red energy like a puzzle fitting together, the woman spoke:
"Here I proclaim. You Must Protect Me, Because You Are My Knight. Heroic Class Magic: Rho Aias."
The spirit of a muscular man wearing only a helmet, shield, and spear emerged from Albedo's body. He roared around with a war cry, and in the next moment, he flew toward the front of the portal and took a defensive position. Soon after, the spirit began to petrify.
This phenomenon wasn't isolated as several other spirits, whether men or women, emerged from Albedo's body and circled the portal in a defensive line, and just like the first one, they turned into stone.
In the next moment, the red energy and the magic circle began to merge with the statues, and the entire area was isolated.
Not just isolated, the entire place was enclosed in its own dimension. What Victor and Albedo had just created was a separate, isolated dimension.
Evie, Selena, and Emilly had many questions in their minds, especially about the magic Albedo had used, but they couldn't say anything because Victor spoke.
"It's starting."
Soon, the witches watched in horror as the 'time' in that isolated space began to pass extremely quickly.
The ground visibly started to age and decay; it was as if time had passed hundreds of times faster.
"What on earth is happening!?" Evie couldn't take it anymore and asked. As someone who liked to be in control, this entire situation was incredibly stressful for her.
But... unfortunately, no one answered her question. Albedo and Victor just looked seriously at the portal.
"Will the Golems hold?" Victor asked. With his gaze, he could clearly tell that those beings weren't souls or spirits but simply golems.
As a Soul Master, he clearly understood that the woman wasn't summoning spirits; she projected a past image through magic and used it as golems. She used the 'myth' recorded in the Akashic Records to create the magic that everyone had just witnessed.
"I don't know. This is the first time I've dealt with this."
"Hmm..." Victor pointed his palm towards the golems, and in the next moment, the stone golems began to change. Starting slowly from their feet, their stone bodies began to be covered by something.
"Divine Iron..." Albedo pursed her lips; this man had just created a massive pile of wealth with a wave of his hand!
Albedo just shook her head, sighing; she clearly underestimated Victor's abilities. Yes, she thought he could do many things, but not even in her wildest dreams did she think he could create materials that only existed in the pantheons!
'Control over creation, huh...' She truly came to understand the implications of those words now.
[Victor, what's the matter? Why did you suddenly summon everyone?] Zaladrac asked.
[There's a situation here. You'll understand when you get here...]
[Mm.] Zaladrac just made a confirming sound.
[Don't forget what we discussed; protect Jeanne's evolution with your powers.]
[I know.] Zaladrac wouldn't forget that. After all, it was necessary for Victor's plans to hide his current war potential.
Suddenly, a portal appeared around the group, and in the next moment, Zaladrac, Jeanne, and Natalia emerged.
Jeanne was fully armed from head to toe, and only Zaladrac was in her dress, but compared to Jeanne, she had all her dragon 'features' on display.
She was clearly showcasing her power as a dragon, a power that had grown even stronger when Victor adopted her into his lineage.
Jeanne looked around, and when she saw the witches, her face twitched for a few seconds, but she soon returned to normal. She didn't have a good impression of witches, but she wouldn't let her biases cloud her judgment.
"I brought them, Master!"
"Mm, thank you very much, Natalia. You can go back and rest now."
Natalia smiled kindly when she heard Victor's words. Even after becoming one of the most arrogant races out there, she was still humble.
"Yes." Natalia nodded, looking around only to store the information in her head, and in the next moment, she left through the portal.
Zaladrac spread her wings and flew toward Victor. "Victor, what's the matter?"
"This is the problem." Victor pointed to the portal.
"The flow of time is completely messed up. What's happening here?"
"I don't know... not yet... Can you identify anything?"
"I have a feeling I've seen something similar in the past, but I can't remember." Despite having awakened most of her memories with her recent evolution…
She was still trying to adjust because it wasn't just one dragon's memory but all her ancestors' memories.
"I see..." Victor nodded.
If Zaladrac, with all the memories of her dragon lineage, couldn't identify the problem, Jeanne, as the oldest woman in the universe, might know something.
"This energy..." Jeanne narrowed her eyes.
Just with her body language, Victor understood that she knew something.
Without wasting time, Victor probed Jeanne's mind and connected her mind to his.
[What do you know?]
[Victor...?]
[Yes, I'm developing this to communicate from a distance.] Victor could easily communicate with those who had a deep connection with him, like Zaladrac and Roxanne. Since evolving as a dragon, he had been trying to do something similar to use with any being he wanted, regardless of distance. As long as they were on the same plane, he could reach that person's mind.
It wasn't as deep a connection as with Roxanne or Zaladrac, who could talk even across dimensions, but it was good enough for giving orders and managing his people without relying on equipment.
Jeanne nodded internally. [This energy, I felt it in the past when my brother was creating the planets.]
[This strange change must have been caused by him or the Abyss Judges, maybe both. After all, as the one who manages life and the continuation of life and the one who manages souls, they work together.] Jeanne explained.
[So it's the Primordials, huh...]
[Yes.]
Victor thought for a moment and then looked at Albedo, who was still staring at the portal. She didn't even care about the arrival of new faces; her gaze was like that of a scientist seeing a new test subject.
"Albedo, let's isolate this place."
Albedo blinked and shifted her attention to Victor while her brain registered his words, and a few seconds later, she spoke.
"Okay... Yes... Let's isolate everything." Just a few seconds after she understood Victor's hidden words.
"Zaladrac, cover the areas I'm not paying attention to... And." Victor suddenly turned, his eyes shining in deep violet, while his chest started glowing violet as the atmosphere became oppressive, and no one could breathe properly.
In the next moment, an overwhelming roar echoed throughout Arcane, followed by a beam of red flames that shot into the sky.
ROOOOOOOOOAR!
The two ravens didn't even have time to react before they were engulfed by the flames.
And they weren't the only ones hit as Victor suddenly turned his gaze toward two gods who were observing from a distance.
"What-"
"Gaaahhhh!"
...
Nordic Pantheon.
The Allfather opened his eyes, with killing intent and pure anger evident in them. He didn't like that his family members had been eliminated.
"All Father! Your face!" One of the guarding Valkyries suddenly spoke.
"...." Odin touched his eyes and saw golden blood.
Seeing this blood, the gods' eyes shone even more with murderous intent.
"Valkyrie, call Thor and Freya."
"Yes, A-All-Father"
"Frigga, tell me about the meeting of supernatural beings."
"You're finally showing interest?" Frigga, a woman with long brown hair and vibrant green eyes, commented.
"Yes. I will go in person."
"Mm... Just don't start a war, Odin. We need to assess this individual first."
"I don't start wars, Frigga. I finish them."
An energy rippled in front of the man, and soon, a towering woman of five meters in height appeared.
She had long light blue hair and blue eyes and was wearing a tight-fitting suit that seemed to come from a Sci-fi robot pilot's outfit.
"God-King."
"What do you want, Outsider?"
"So much time has passed. Have you considered my proposal?"
"....." Odin fell silent.
And that silence was the answer the woman needed to her question.
"I see... It seems I judged you wrongly."
"... What do you mean, Outsider?"
"Initially, I thought that a wise and powerful god like you could help me."
"But I forgot that despite being a wise god, you are a coward."
An explosion of power emanated from Odin's body.
"Did you dare to call me a coward!? I, Odin!?"
But the tall woman remained indifferent as a barrier formed in front of her.
"Then help me." The woman spoke indifferently.
"....."
Odin's power drained, and he looked at the woman with complicated eyes. The proposal she made was very tempting; she would give him anything he wanted, but in return, he had to help her.
Despite the proposal being very enticing, he couldn't accept it... After all, it was too risky.
To make matters worse, in this specific agreement, he couldn't be 'dishonest' because they would be making a promise with an artifact that could erase the soul of a being, whether a god or not.
It was an artifact with the same effect as the witches' contracts but much more lethal.
He couldn't accept the agreement, but he also couldn't let the woman go and offer this agreement to another group, which was why he was 'delaying' this meeting.
"... As expected, a coward," she commented neutrally, and in the next moment, she turned away.
"Where are you going?"
"To find another suitor, I've wasted too much time in this place, and your attempts to make me 'attached' to this place are laughable."
"You don't-" Odin was about to say something, but Frigga just held him back while shaking her head.
Odin bit his lip and just sighed.
In the next moment, the woman simply disappeared with the same blue energy she came with.
"Haah..." Odin let out a long sigh.
"... Who do you think she will seek help from?" Frigga asked after a moment of silence.
"The Hindu pantheon. After all, there are many powerful beings there."
"But they are not as united as we are, and the truly powerful beings of that pantheon won't move unless their land is in danger."
"A group as united as ours can't help her."
"The Celts?"
"Too weak."
"Shinto?"
"Weak."
"Greek?"
"No longer exist."
"......"
"So, there's only..." Odin's face twisted a bit, "That boy again... Haah."
"He really has the luck of the devil," Odin grumbled.
"Well, he is the Devil himself," Frigga said naturally, a slight blush appearing on her face.
Odin narrowed his eyes when he saw his wife's reaction, and he became even more irritated.
"You have more pictures of him, don't you?"
"Of course not. You took the liberty of erasing everything."
"Frigga!"
"Stop being paranoid; it's just a picture."
"It doesn't matter if it's one picture or three! I won't allow it!"
"Odin, you're overreacting again. We've already discussed this." Frigga narrowed her eyes.
Due to the recent rise of the Blood God's religion, updated photos of the 'Blood God' with his new dragon form began circulating in the Nordic territory, and it turned out that these photos fell into the hands of the queen and many goddesses of the Nordic pantheon.
This situation left many male gods with a strong dislike for Victor.
