"Lord Artosh…"
After exchanging a glance with Su Mo, Jibril fully understood the War God's intentions.
Before the battle had even begun, he had called it the final battle, seeking only a thrilling fight, not victory, and had even handed over the Flügel to another.
Any discerning person could see that this was less of a transaction and more of an entrustment. To have thought this far before even fighting—was it out of adherence to the rule that the winner takes all, or out of trust in Jibril's judgment?
Jibril didn't understand what was going on in Artosh's mind. But she did understand that among the Flügel, discerning individuals were few, and the blind were many.
For example, the one before her.
"Eh? Eh? Eh? Eh?!"
Hearing the War God's words, Azriel did a carp flip off the ground, her eyes welling up with tears as she looked toward the War God's throne.
"What's happening? How could this be, meow! We are all wings loyal to our Master God! How can we obey the commands of another, meow!"
As the leader of the Flügel, she desperately tried to express her loyalty.
However, after making the deal, the War God had withdrawn all his might and retreated to his throne, showing no intention of even glancing in their direction.
So, Azriel's plea was like casting a flirtatious glance at a blind man; the War God didn't even see it.
Seeing Azriel crying her eyes out, Jibril stepped forward and gently patted her head.
"It's okay, Azriel. You've just been abandoned by Lord Artosh."
"Waaaah, I knew Jii-chan was the most… waaaaaaah, don't say such hurtful things!"
The first half of the sentence had touched Azriel, but the second half made her collapse to the ground, feeling as if her heart had been stabbed.
Seeing her clutching her chest and twitching, Jibril shrugged.
"If you are wings loyal to Lord Artosh, do I, a junior, need to teach you what to do after hearing his command?"
In this world, a creation must completely carry out the will of its creator. In other words, even if they were ordered to betray themselves, they could not refuse a command from their Master God.
Now that Artosh had made a deal with Su Mo, no matter what they thought, they had to obey their Master God's command and serve Su Mo.
In fact, while Azriel was agonizing, over a thousand Flügel had already silently arrived before Su Mo via Heaven's Shift. They were arranged in neat rows, like a silent army of angels.
They, too, couldn't understand Artosh's intentions, but the Master God's command had to be obeyed, and his words could never be wrong.
Therefore, regardless of their own thoughts, they had gathered under Su Mo's command as quickly as possible, awaiting the instructions of their temporary master.
Under the gaze of over a thousand pairs of eyes, even Azriel couldn't continue to lie on the ground without a care for her image.
She dusted herself off and stood sheepishly before all the Flügel. Then, all of them turned their gazes to Su Mo.
Looking at the entire Flügel legion before him, capable of slaying a god, Su Mo nodded in satisfaction.
Although the combined strength of these Flügel could only rival a high-ranking Old Deus, that was a high-ranking Old Deus from the world of No Game No Life.
If they were placed in the world of Godslayer, they could sweep through an entire divine realm.
If he used them as his sword and swept the divine realms clean, Su Mo could obtain the Primordial Divinities of all the pantheons in one go.
As long as the Ex-machina's computational power could keep up, Su Mo could master the myths of every pantheon in the divine realms and become the Lord of the Divine Realms.
If he could achieve that, all the Mythological Arts he currently possessed would be completed to the greatest extent, and his power would completely transcend the stars, reaching a level he couldn't even predict now.
This was much easier than attacking each pantheon one by one. Many times, this was the purpose of having subordinates.
They might not be able to do what their master couldn't, but they could certainly help share the burden. Otherwise, they would have no reason to exist.
From this perspective, it had to be said that Artosh's gift had hit the spot. Even if Artosh were to be defeated later, Su Mo would continue to protect the Flügel.
Of course, it was too early to say that now. Before returning to the Godslayer world, he had to deal with the entire Ex-machina race and make them obey his orders.
With that in mind, Su Mo immediately issued a task to the Flügel before him.
"All Flügel, form squads of ten and conduct a grid search of this planet's surface. Your target is an inactive divine essence."
"An inactive divine essence?"
Hearing this request, the Flügel girls exchanged glances. Even Jibril was a little puzzled.
"Master, aren't we looking for the scrap heaps… I mean, the Ex-machina?"
Others didn't dare to ask, but Jibril had no such qualms.
"Finding the Ex-machina is simple. Conquering them is troublesome." Su Mo shook his head.
The Ex-machina were not constructed of aether like the Flügel, but of matter. This basic structure was not suitable for the Sword's Origin, and they could not be simply subjugated with a technique.
Although there were a thousand and one ways to deal with the Ex-machina, there were not many ways to make them submit. Of course, the original story mentioned one method: giving them a "heart" and using it to influence the entire race.
However, that was a path reserved for the weak—simple, but time-consuming. For a powerhouse, there was no need for such trouble.
"We just need to find the god who created the Ex-machina and defeat them. Then we can easily conquer all of them. It's more efficient and convenient."
Hearing this, Azriel and the other Flügel were stunned.
Find a god and defeat them… how is that convenient?
Only Jibril could best understand Su Mo's way of thinking.
"That's right! As expected of Master, your wisdom is unparalleled!"
Hearing Jibril's flattery, the other Flügel exchanged glances and had to admit one thing: this temporary master was indeed worthy of being Lord Artosh's enemy.
If nothing else, his attitude of treating other gods as if they were nothing was not something a weakling could learn.
Seeing no objections from the Flügel girls, Su Mo continued.
"The search technique is here. You can obtain it by signing a temporary contract. The sensing range of each technique is within ten kilometers. This world may have multiple inactive divine essences, so the search must not stop until I confirm I have obtained the target."
"Of course, if you encounter an enemy attack, you need not hold back. You are authorized to organize and counter-attack. If you encounter an enemy you cannot handle, ask for my help directly through the contract."
"Yes, my Lord!"
Faced with Su Mo's clear instructions, the Flügel girls accepted their orders. Although they still felt some resistance toward their Master God's enemy, they did not dislike Su Mo's style. The Flügel's way of doing things was just as violent and direct as his.
Of all Su Mo's instructions, they only had an issue with the last sentence.
What does he mean, ask for his help if we encounter an enemy we can't handle?
This temporary master seemed to be underestimating the strength of the Flügel a little too much. As retainers of the War God, they, the Flügel, could run rampant in this world. Almost no one dared to stand in their way.
An enemy we can't handle? A joke!
Of course, they didn't dare to voice this complaint.
After signing the temporary contract and obtaining the technique, the Flügel girls departed via Heaven's Shift. No matter what they thought, they completely followed Su Mo's orders, forming squads of ten and beginning a carpet search of the land.
After the thousand-plus Flügel had left, the plain seemed much more spacious.
Looking at the empty ground, Azriel froze, suddenly realizing something.
"Mmmph mmmph mmmph~" She began to struggle violently.
Only after Jibril removed the rag from her mouth could Azriel speak. She immediately looked at Su Mo with pleading eyes.
"Um… did you forget about me, meow?"
After witnessing Su Mo's equal dialogue with Artosh, Azriel no longer dared to be disrespectful to him. It wasn't that she was defecting, but disrespecting her Master God's acknowledged opponent was equivalent to disrespecting her Master God.
Not to mention, she was now temporarily Su Mo's property and had to obey his commands.
"No." Su Mo shook his head. "The previous task was for the other Flügel. Your task is different. You are to stay behind with us."
Hearing this, Azriel was stunned. She had been hoping to sneak off and ask for her Master God's will.
"Why, meow? Why am I the only one who's different, meow?" she asked with a mournful face, worried she was being punished for her earlier actions.
"The answer to that question is simple." Su Mo never minded dispelling others' doubts.
"What is it, meow? Oh! Could it be that you value my status as the leader of the Flügel and want to use me to command the others, meow?"
Clapping her hands, a flash of inspiration went through Azriel's mind, as if she had discovered a great secret.
However, in response to this guess, Jibril only gave her a look one would give a lunatic.
"You're overthinking it. It's just that the other Flügel happened to form perfect squads of ten. You were the leftover."
"Huh?" Azriel was dumbfounded. "I'm the leftover, meow?"
"That's right." Su Mo nodded, confirming Jibril's theory.
"...I'm going to kill myself, meow!"
Azriel was down for the count.