Chapter 68

Chapter 68. Overwhelm

From the thrones where they sat at their leisure, their gazes plunged in unison toward the Abriel in my hand.

Frankly, I found it puzzling.

'Is advancing it to Principality really that remarkable?'

It had certainly gotten stronger.

But at the end of the day, it's a sword.

These Supreme Tier monsters, who'd compressed aeons of Divinity into their own bodies, had reason to be this shocked by one weapon's evolution?

Even the reaction from the Twelve Sovereign Gods was peculiar.

"Hahahahahaha!"

That was when it happened.

Heimdal shattered the silence with a burst of laughter.

His face was brimming with satisfaction.

A smile of utter contentment.

Even before the Twelve Sovereign Gods' gazes, Heimdal didn't shrink in the slightest.

On the contrary.

"Did you see that?!"

He spread both arms wide and bellowed up toward the twelve thrones floating in the air.

As if taunting them, he raised his chin and roared.

"I, Heimdal -- the God of Typhoons and Ruler of All Things -- hereby declare!"

His booming voice shook the Banquet hall.

"This is only the beginning."

The beginning.

He was casually proclaiming that the Principality's appearance was merely a first step -- without consulting me, the person in question.

"How far my Apostle God will climb, what miracles he will write in this Tower. Isn't that something worth looking forward to?"

Heimdal slowly turned his gaze.

Where his eyes settled.

The Goddess of Winter, Skadi.

Toward her.

"So engrave this into your minds."

Heimdal let killing intent pour from his voice.

"Unless you intend to see this through to the bitter end."

Toward Skadi's faction.

And beyond that, toward every god gathered in this place.

"Don't so much as bark, and don't bare your teeth."

......That lunatic.

I barely suppressed the curse threatening to spill out.

The atmosphere turned hostile in an instant.

Not even the gods' breathing could be heard.

I had no choice but to tense up along with them.

Even granting a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand concessions.

Even endlessly softening the language.

'Is he actually insane?'

Insane was the only word that came to mind.

Maverick outsider or not.

Turning every Supreme Tier god into an enemy wasn't enough -- he'd launched this area-of-effect provocation with the Twelve Sovereign Gods watching from directly above.

This went beyond an expression of confidence. It was the absolute apex of reckless arrogance.

One wrong move and a war among gods could erupt right here. A powder-keg moment.

The killing intent in Skadi's eyes was about to detonate.

Her Apostle God was gripping his sword hilt and stepping forward -- at that very instant.

Clap. Clap. Clap.

From somewhere, a slow and heavy sound of applause sliced through the garden's stillness.

"......!"

All eyes shot to the thrones in the sky.

One of the Twelve Sovereign Gods.

Hod, the Dark God.

He was propping his chin at an angle, wearing an amused smile.

"Indeed."

Hod's voice bore down on the air.

"Heimdal, Ruler of All Things. What bold spirit."

An inflection that was half mocking, yet strangely intrigued.

"I shall watch with interest to see how far that arrogance of yours carries."

It passed.

Mercifully.

At Hod's single utterance, the taut killing intent suffusing the garden dissipated like mist.

Skadi clamped her lips shut and swallowed her fury. The other gods hastily withdrew their gazes.

With the Twelve Sovereign Gods declaring they would watch, who would dare pick a fight here?

"Hmph."

Heimdal snorted and turned with his customary swagger still intact.

"Let's go."

He strode back to his seat.

I stowed Abriel and quietly followed.

The stares boring into my back stung, but the naked killing intent from before was gone.

Aigis, who'd been standing on the dais, cleared his throat to restore order.

"Ahem. Now then."

He smiled awkwardly and resumed the Banquet.

"The preamble has gone on long enough. Let us proceed to the main event -- the start of our 'true feast.'"

The true feast.

Aigis spread both arms and called out.

"All parties shall now bring forth the feast they have prepared!"

The moment the order fell, the garden's atmosphere shifted into something bizarre once more.

As if on cue, angels in silver armor marched in single file.

In their hands were thick iron chains.

And.

Clink. Clink.

Bound at the ends of those chains, dragged along -- beings.

I couldn't believe my eyes.

"......?"

The large, long white table placed at the center of the garden.

The empty table I'd found so puzzling.

Now I understood its purpose.

The angels pulled the chains, lining the women they'd dragged in atop that cold marble table one by one.

Every one of them dazzlingly beautiful, but their eyes were clouded and dead with despair.

'Don't tell me......?'

Humans.

No -- life-forms from other dimensions, similar to humans.

Aigis looked down at them from the dais with a satisfied expression and proclaimed.

"Now then, the feast is prepared."

Thick greed saturated his voice.

"'Divine maidens' possessing pure and noble souls, handpicked from various worlds."

The gods' eyes gleamed like beasts'.

The sounds of lips being licked echoed from all corners of the garden.

"Offerings who will gladly surrender their bodies and souls for our sake -- fresh and ripe."

Aigis smiled with avarice.

"Who among us shall have the privilege of savoring this feast? The anticipation is unbearable, is it not?"

......The worst fear had come true.

'So this was the Banquet's real purpose.'

I bit my lip hard.

Something revolting surged up from my gut.

Nausea.

I remembered.

The offhand advice Heimdal had once given me.

-Gather devotees and place them on the Altar of Sacrifice. As those Living Offerings burn in sacred flames, the faith they emit -- once refined -- becomes extremely high-purity Nectar. It's the most efficient method.

Those words had become reality before my eyes.

That white table was the Altar of Sacrifice.

They would burn those dozens of divine maidens alive.

Wring out their noble souls and life force.

And refine it all into a single drop of high-purity Nectar to drink. A demonic notion.

'......These goddamn bastards.'

How could anyone call them true gods?

They were nothing more than vile predators draped in Authority.

Sadistic monsters who savored pleasure with others' despair as their appetizer.

"The offerings for this Banquet's feast have been specially selected, time and again."

Aigis continued his explanation from the dais with a contented smile.

"Children found through painstaking effort."

At his gesture, the silver-armored angels roughly pressed the divine maidens' shoulders down, forcing them to their knees.

"All of them are pure maidens, raised their entire lives as divine servants solely for this glorious feast."

His voice swelled as though describing a proud achievement.

"From birth, they were kept untouched by worldly taint. They were fed leaves of the World Tree daily to purify their souls."

Leaves of the World Tree.

They'd been feeding that sacred relic like fodder for this abomination.

"Their bodies and souls alike. All of them are as clean and transparent as can be."

Aigis licked his lips with greed.

"Truly the finest feast, perfectly befitting this sacred gathering, wouldn't you agree?"

Satisfied gasps erupted throughout the garden.

Gods fingered their golden chalices and licked their lips.

The supreme Nectar those offerings would emit as they burned.

Beast-like eyes already imagining its sweet fragrance.

"However."

Aigis raised a hand to quiet the garden.

"Such a precious feast cannot be tasted by just anyone."

The expected progression.

They always incite competition.

"Only the strongest -- the true victor -- shall have the right to claim this noble Essence for themselves."

Claim.

At that word, several gods' eyes glinted ominously.

"But it would be troublesome for us, the Supreme Tier rulers gathered here, to settle this ourselves, would it not?"

Aigis made a show of looking troubled.

"It could spiral into a great war that shakes the entire Tower. Direct conflict between us is strictly prohibited."

Justification.

A pretty wrapper.

"Therefore, those who shall represent our will -- your beloved 'Apostle Gods' -- shall carry out this sacred contest on our behalf!"

A proxy battle.

A fight between Apostle Gods.

I frowned inwardly.

'Wait. I have to fight?'

Did they mean to use force right here?

My mind raced.

'......I can't win right now.'

No good.

I can't win.

No matter how fast I'd blitzed from Floor 1 to Floor 55.

No matter that I was an Irregular wielding the Principality's blade and commanding primordial fire.

All of that only held true among lesser gods.

Even killing Cryos had only been possible thanks to a Nectar-fueled trap and controlled variables.

But the ones before me now?

The shadow-like Apostle Gods standing escort behind the Supreme Tier gods.

They were genuine monsters -- mid-tier at minimum, and most of them had ascended to the rank of high-ranking gods.

If I faced one of them head-on in a pure contest of force?

'I'd lose every single time.'

The weight-class gap was too wide.

I was overwhelmingly outmatched in every regard.

"......"

Cold sweat trickled down.

I glanced sideways.

Heimdal, for whatever reason, sat with arms crossed and a perfectly unfazed expression, radiating leisure.

If anything, that cold smile hanging on his lips seemed to say:

-Go on, get out there and show them what you've got.

A wordless pressure.

'This is maddening.'

Does he trust me, or has he just thrown me to the wolves?

Did seeing me draw the Principality's blade make him think I could hold my own against high-ranking Apostle Gods?

But if I went out and fought now, it'd be suicide.

And I couldn't exactly back out either.

A true dilemma.

"The format is quite simple."

Aigis continued his explanation.

"A contest among gods. However, since this is a Banquet hall, all-out clashes of Authority shall not be permitted."

At his gesture, the silver-armored angels brought out heavy hunks of metal.

"Shackles that block 99% of Divine Power. All Apostle Gods participating in the bouts must wear them."

Shackles.

Aigis smiled.

"Naturally, Authorities will be unusable. In the end, the fights shall be decided by the most primal means -- body and martial prowess."

In a word, a brawl.

Not a noble contest of gods, but a bloody melee of shackled gladiators, watched over chalices of wine.

'Talk about dopamine addicts.'

I shook my head inwardly.

A taste for cruelty beyond measure.

But at the same time, a wave of relief rose.

'......99% of Divine Power, blocked.'

That changed the equation entirely.

If their overwhelming Divinity was restrained, then the only things that decided victory were pure physical ability, the performance of one's armaments.

And combat sense.

'This is doable.'

It might even be a board that favored me.

"We shall proceed by nomination."

Aigis declared the rules.

"Nominate the opponent you desire. If they accept, the bout is set. Only the victor earns the right to claim the offerings upon that table."

The explanation had barely ended.

FLASH.

The Apostle God standing behind Skadi raised his hand without a shred of hesitation.

"Might I make the first nomination?"

Aigis nodded.

"By all means."

Simultaneously.

......The man's eyes locked onto me without a tremor.

"Apostle God Rag."

He spoke, slowly twisting the corner of his mouth.

"Get out here. I'll smash you to pieces."