(3rd Person POV)
The theatre performance surrounded Pope Rockefeller. The children's voices—so pure, so calming—threatened to overwhelm his defenses completely.
He resisted. Pulling on ninety percent of his spiritual and mental power, he broke free from the enchantment.
"I won't be... won't be fooled!" His shout echoed weakly through the vast space.
Arthur stepped from the shadows, his amusement fading into something colder. "Your Solarus Church has no authority over me. I am a deity in my own right—not some mortal whose fate you can decide."
Sweat beaded on Rockefeller's forehead as he stared at the demon before him.
Arthur's eyes shifted, turning deep scarlet.
Rockefeller trembled. "Those eyes... the Primal bloodline..."
He understood immediately. The Primal demons had threatened the church hundreds of years ago. Some noble and royal demon families retained faint traces of that ancient power, but none could fully activate it.
Yet Arthur wielded it completely. Naturally.
And he was a deity. The combination was terrifying beyond comprehension.
"You're a foreign god who possessed this young demon's body!" Rockefeller's voice rose desperately. "That's the only explanation!"
He couldn't accept that a demon this young could have ascended to divinity on his own.
Arthur's smile held no warmth. "If I were possessing this body, it wouldn't be strong enough to manifest a divine realm here." He paused. "More importantly, I can receive worship energy directly into this form. Not transfer it elsewhere. Accept it. Own it."
Rockefeller flinched. That was true.
An avatar could receive worship but had to channel it to the true deity. Arthur was absorbing it himself.
"Deliver a message to your lord," Arthur said, his tone sharp and direct. "The deity he wanted to draw out is me. If Solarus wishes to deal with me, he's welcome to come here himself."
Rockefeller's eyes widened. Pure provocation.
If he delivered that message, Solarus would come. It might take years for a Divine Ship to arrive, but what were years to a god?
And when two deities battled... the world could collapse from the collateral damage alone.
Before Rockefeller could respond, the theatre vanished.
He was back in the courtroom, drenched in sweat, surrounded by confused lawyers and spectators. The sounds of the real world crashed over him—arguments, murmurs, footsteps.
But he felt no relief. His mind raced with impossible calculations. How could he handle this?
---
Hours later, Pope Rockefeller and his entourage abruptly withdrew all accusations against Arthur Pendragon.
The public was baffled. Had it all been for show?
The incident faded quickly from public consciousness. Arthur made sure of that—strategic celebrity scandals, new product announcements, entertainment news that buried the church confrontation under waves of distraction.
But the powerful beings hidden throughout the world had noticed something else entirely.
---
In the Eden Continent, the Shadow Elf stood motionless, his silver hair catching the afternoon light. His eyes stared at the peaceful sky above.
"How long will this peace last?" he murmured.
As a subordinate of the God of Wealth, he'd served faithfully for centuries. But recently, Kaiser had been acting... strange. Different.
Suspicious.
And that overwhelming divine presence that had flooded the world days ago only deepened those suspicions.
'What is Kaiser involved in?'
Elsewhere, members of The Secret Order felt the same disturbance—and panicked. They'd been carefully cultivating Joseph Jackson's trust, speaking to him through enchanted mirrors, slowly drawing him into their influence.
But that divine pressure had shattered their possessing spirits, forcing them to flee their anchored objects. Joseph was left confused, wondering why his "friends" had suddenly stopped responding.
He had no idea he'd just narrowly escaped a cult's manipulation.
---
In the Divine World, Solarus received the full report.
A mortal demon was the deity. Arthur Pendragon and Dionysus were one and the same.
Even Solarus found this surprising. How could a mortal suddenly gain godhood? It defied conventional divine law.
But surprise didn't equal fear. Just... curiosity. And recognition of a threat that needed elimination before it grew stronger.
"Prepare the Divine Ship," Solarus commanded. "We're going to that world."
Ministers and nobles murmured agreement. Several would accompany their king on this campaign.
"Father, may I come as well?"
Solarus turned toward his son. Crown Prince Apollion—golden-haired and eager—stood with barely contained excitement.
"You want entertainment?" Solarus asked with mild amusement.
"I want to observe how you work," Apollion replied, his cheeks coloring slightly. "Learn from you."
Solarus shrugged. "Perhaps you can teach that upstart demon some humility. Why not?"
Apollion's face lit up with joy.
As they boarded the Divine Ship, Solarus closed his eyes, already projecting his consciousness ahead.
---
In the Holy City of the mortal world, the massive statue of Solarus in the grand cathedral suddenly moved.
Pope Rockefeller and the assembled priests trembled as stone became flesh. The avatar manifested—Solarus' will given temporary form.
"My Lord!" Rockefeller prostrated himself immediately.
Solarus nodded with distant acknowledgment. "I didn't expect this world to harbor such an entity. But don't worry. I'm coming to resolve everything personally."
"Thank you for your mercy, my Lord!" Rockefeller kept his head bowed, silently begging that the coming conflict wouldn't destroy the world and its innocent people.
"I'm curious about this demon though," Solarus mused, studying his avatar's hands with interest. "Do you think this form could defeat him?"
Rockefeller swallowed hard. "I'm afraid not, my Lord."
The priests behind him paled, terrified their Pope would be punished for such honesty.
But Solarus simply smiled. "Well then. I'll have to test that myself."
He vanished, leaving only faint traces of divine light behind.
---
Even in avatar form, Solarus was confident. He might not defeat this upstart demon, but he could certainly inflict damage. Send a message.
A smirk crossed his divine features. It had been centuries since he'd felt genuine excitement about a confrontation.
Moments later, he manifested in the sky above Horn Kingdom, looking down at the bustling city with cold indifference.
At Hellfire headquarters, Keanu and Kaiser both flinched simultaneously. Their heads snapped upward, divine senses screaming warnings.
"Solarus!" Keanu breathed.
The pressure in the air was unmistakable—a deity who'd ruled this world and countless others for millennia.
Arthur looked up calmly. In the sky, Solarus was gathering energy in his palm, a swirling sphere of destructive power forming with casual ease.
"Don't worry," Arthur said, his tone relaxed. "That's clearly just an avatar. A projection. Nothing to be alarmed about."
"We know that!" Kaiser snapped, tension clear in his voice. "But even his avatar is powerful enough to match both of us combined. If you fight it alone and underestimate—"
"Arthur, seriously." Keanu cut in, rare urgency in his voice. "That thing has enough power to give all three of us trouble. We should team up and take it down together."
"Even if it can't kill you, it can definitely injure you badly," Kaiser added. "Injuries that would take weeks or months to heal. Is that worth the risk?"
It was unusual for Keanu and Kaiser to agree on anything. That alone should have been a warning sign.
Arthur just smiled. "You're both right—if I were still just the God of Entertainment and Wealth."
His form blurred.
---
Solarus released the energy sphere. The attack screamed downward, tearing through clouds, ready to obliterate Hellfire headquarters and everything around it.
Then Arthur was just there—standing directly in its path, one hand raised casually.
The devastating blast struck his palm and stopped. Completely. Like it had hit an invisible wall.
Solarus' eyes widened.
Arthur's fingers closed around the energy sphere, crushing it like paper. Divine power scattered harmlessly into sparks that faded against the sky.
"My turn," Arthur said.
He kicked off the air itself, closing the distance between them in a heartbeat. Solarus barely had time to raise a defensive barrier before Arthur's fist slammed into it.
The barrier shattered like glass.
Solarus reeled back, genuinely shocked. He threw a counterstrike—a blade of pure sunlight that could cut through mountains.
Arthur twisted, letting it pass inches from his face, and drove his palm into Solarus' chest.
But this wasn't a physical blow.
Golden circuits erupted across Solarus' avatar form—intricate patterns of divine energy that Arthur's strike had written directly into his existence. They spread like cracks, glowing brighter and brighter.
"What—what is this?!" Solarus tried to move, but the circuits held him frozen.
Arthur's eyes gleamed. "Just a little something I invented. Divine deconstruction."
He snapped his fingers.
The circuits flared. Every connection linking the avatar to Solarus' true body—thousands of threads of faith energy, divine consciousness, power anchors—severed simultaneously. Not destroyed. Just... disconnected. Cleanly. Perfectly.
Like unplugging a machine.
Solarus' avatar went completely still, eyes wide with disbelief. Then it began to crumble, dissolving into golden motes that scattered on the wind.
Arthur floated there alone, watching the last traces fade.
Below, Keanu and Kaiser stood on the Hellfire rooftop, mouths hanging open.
"Did he just..." Keanu couldn't finish the sentence.
"One move," Kaiser whispered. "He took down a Solarus avatar in one move."
---
Aboard the Divine Ship, thousands of lightyears away, Solarus' eyes snapped open.
His hands gripped the armrests of his throne so tightly the divine metal groaned. His teeth ground together, jaw clenched.
That avatar had been fed by worship from every statue across that entire world. It should have fought for days.
Arthur had dismantled it in seconds. Made it look easy.
"Father?" Crown Prince Apollion asked nervously. "What happened?"
Solarus said nothing for a long moment. Then, slowly, a cold smile spread across his face.
"Change of plans. We're not just traveling to that world." His eyes gleamed with dangerous excitement. "We're going to war."
The smile widened, taking on a predatory edge.
"This demon just became my new favorite challenge."