On the warship deck.
"Those moles already reported their results to the Master God? And the Master God will be inspecting them in half an hour?"
Hearing this news, Synk's face turned a shade of green.
"That's right! The reporting location is the Flügel's home base. Don't be late!" After giving the basic reminder, Jibril's figure vanished.
"Damn it, those moles! Why are they so fast at a time like this!"
Feeling time ticking away, Synk gritted her teeth, growing anxious.
She had also been working with all her might on the research of Imaginary Energy. Not only had she confirmed its existence, but she had also detected many of its properties.
However, she had yet to achieve a level that could be considered a true result.
For an ordinary person, to achieve so much in just a few days was already quite impressive. But for her, these results were nothing to show off.
Not only had Su Mo granted her the Forest God's divine essence, giving her extremely favorable experimental conditions where she could directly use her own divine essence to verify her hypotheses, but the existing results themselves were not particularly remarkable.
They were the type that anyone who knew about Imaginary Energy could eventually figure out.
In technique research, just confirming its existence beforehand was already a considerable advantage. She had thought this competition would last at least another week or two, but she never expected Ocain's side to be so quick.
"No! I can lose to anyone, but not to those damn moles!"
Although under Su Mo's rules, even if she lost, the punishment wouldn't involve the gods themselves—at most, it would be a reputational penalty, like making the Elves yield to the Dwarfs in the future.
But even so, it was a defeat she absolutely could not bear. In truth, she didn't care much for the Elves; she just didn't want to lose to those disgusting enemies.
"Those guys have a divine essence in hand; their progress is definitely much faster than mine. To surpass them, I have to find another way."
After careful consideration, Synk felt the situation was becoming more and more difficult. For a divine-tier genius like her, whether she had help from others didn't make a huge difference.
Even if the Dwarfs had two Old Deus, they wouldn't gain a significant advantage from it. Besides cooperating with the experiment, the Forge God Ocain probably couldn't help much.
The reason for the current gap in their progress was mainly due to accumulation. In their research on the Essence Bomb, the Dwarfs had already gained a comprehensive understanding of divine essences.
Now, they only needed to delve deeper into the performance of the divine essence to grasp the technique of communicating with Imaginary Energy through it.
But she was different. Having been focused on researching techniques, she lacked this accumulation and was naturally a step behind.
Now, only half an hour remained. If she continued to research the interference between the divine essence and Imaginary Energy, she would surely be no match for the Dwarfs. To overtake them, she had to find an opportunity to directly study Imaginary Energy.
Such an opportunity should not have existed, but…
"Miss March 7th, could you please do me a favor? This is the request of a lifetime!"
Synk immediately came before March 7th and, with an attitude of having burned all her boats, lowered her head and pleaded with the girl before her.
If she had encountered a similar individual before the great war, she would have just abducted them. But now, after the war, and with the girl before her being a friend of Lord Su Mo, she naturally dared not use force.
Fortunately, she had observed before that this pink-haired girl was not very wary and was easy to deceive. As long as she was sincere, she should agree.
"Eh? You don't have to be so formal. Just tell me what you need help with."
As expected, March 7th was not used to such polite etiquette and seemed to be softening.
"Thank you, Miss March 7th! It's really nothing major, I just want to study you…"
Synk immediately looked up, her eyes full of gratitude as she looked at March 7th, but her words were as vague as possible.
Just then, Artoria, who had just put away her scabbard Avalon, walked over from not far away.
"My apologies. According to Master's command, I am responsible for protecting Miss March 7th's safety. Therefore, whatever you do, I must accompany Miss March 7th." The ahoge-king spoke in a deadpan tone, clearly leaving no room for negotiation.
"Miss Artoria, thank you! And thank you, Lord Su Mo!" March 7th was deeply moved for a moment, never having thought she would be assigned a bodyguard. Lord Su Mo was truly a good person!
"Alright! No problem! My research was only intended to borrow Miss March 7th's power anyway. I won't harm her. Miss Artoria, please rest assured and come along."
Synk immediately abandoned a few of her quicker methods and decided to add dozens more layers of safety measures. A girl that Su Mo would dispatch a dedicated bodyguard to protect, no matter how foolish she seemed, was not someone she was qualified to deceive. She absolutely could not be treated carelessly.
"Mm." Artoria nodded slightly and followed March 7th to Synk's research lab with a serious expression. Her ahoge told her that the Elf before her was a bit like her older sister, Morgan—not an easy one to deal with. She had to keep a close eye on her.
---||---
Avant Heim, the Flügel's home base. In the grand hall of the temple, originally used for audiences with the War God.
As the second War God, the current master of the Flügel, and the lord of the throne, Jibril was not sitting on the War God's throne. On the contrary, like the most attentive of handmaidens, she was eagerly serving at the legs of the man on the throne.
The one who could surpass the War God and sit in the main seat could naturally only be Jibril's master, the One God of the No Game No Life world, the wielder of the Star Grail, Su Mo.
However, unlike the solemn atmosphere of the War God's era, the temple hall, though quiet, was not particularly tense.
Holou stood on the other side, clutching the corner of Su Mo's clothes. Schwi stared blankly at her two masters. Azriel led the Flügel in arranging food and drinks.
The Forge God Ocain and Roni stood respectfully and excitedly below the throne.
"Where are Synk and March 7th?" Su Mo asked.
He had already ordered Jibril to inform both parties half an hour in advance that he would be inspecting the results of their Imaginary Energy research.
Now, Roni and the Forge God Ocain had arrived early below the throne, but Synk was nowhere to be seen, and neither was the fun-loving March 7th. This was a bit strange.
"I have already notified them. There are still two minutes until the final assembly time. Would you like me to go and urge them again?" Jibril immediately replied.
"No need. Let's wait another two minutes." Su Mo shook his head, already knowing the answer.
Hearing him say this, Ocain and Roni at the side exchanged an excited glance. Roni immediately took a step forward, knelt on the ground, and presented his research results.
"Lord Su Mo, this is the result of our research. I have successfully mastered the method of obtaining Imaginary Energy through the divine essence. The key lies in the resonance of the divine essence's Imaginary transformation frequency. Please take a look!"
Just as Synk had predicted, Roni, who already had a deep understanding of the divine essence, had solved the problem of obtaining Imaginary Energy and discovered the secret of the War God Artosh.
The strong and the wise are different. The strong create miracles; the wise explain them. Although in terms of combat power, the Dwarfs were far inferior to the War God, in the research of power, the War God might not be their equal.
Just as Artosh, at the end of his life, still didn't know what power he was drawing from thin air, the so-called "strongest" was simply the strongest, not omniscient.
"To know how to utilize the Imaginary attribute of the divine essence itself is not bad." After taking the imprinted technique data from Roni, Su Mo only needed a single glance to understand the theory and mechanism he had constructed.
The reason a divine essence could communicate with Imaginary Energy was that it inherently had this mechanism; it just wasn't activated at a normal frequency.
Roni, with his talent and intuition, had found a frequency among countless possibilities that could communicate with Imaginary Energy and had successfully verified its effectiveness. Although there was an element of luck, it was still a testament to his talent.
"Although the scope of application is limited, it is enough for you to gradually master Imaginary Energy and obtain a power close to Artosh's." Su Mo gave this evaluation.
Artosh's strength was indeed on another level, but it was not without reason. He just didn't need to know the reason himself.
After successfully analyzing the concept of Imaginary Energy, as long as the research continued, Ocain would also obtain the key to unlock Imaginary Energy and raise his own strength to another level.
Of course, just as he couldn't defeat the original Artosh, even if he mastered Imaginary Energy, he would still be no match for Jibril.
The bonus a War God received in the domain of combat was definitely not something that could be made up for with energy alone.
Hearing Su Mo hit the key point with a single sentence, Roni was slightly shaken, his gaze toward Su Mo even more reverent. "Yes, Lord Su Mo!"
As expected of the One God. He could tell at a glance that my answer was half-guessed.
But it didn't matter. Overall, Lord Su Mo still acknowledged his results. Even if there was luck involved, he had found a real method to obtain Imaginary Energy. Although it was not yet perfect, it was enough to win this competition. In any case, it was better than the Elves.
In such a short time, that Elf probably hasn't even figured out the divine essence, right? She must be cowering in her research lab right now, too scared to even show her face. Otherwise, why would she be taking so long?
Thinking of this, he and Ocain exchanged a glance, their eyes full of smugness.
Now, there was only one minute left until the assembly time. What could be done in one minute? Could that detestable Elf surpass him? Impossible! Absolutely impossible!
Once we win this time, we'll make all the Elves bow their heads before the Dwarfs and call themselves losers. In this post-war world, that's enough to let off some steam.
Just as they were calculating in their hearts how to vent their anger…
In the last thirty seconds, Synk, along with March 7th, arrived at the temple, panting.
"My Lord God, please forgive my tardiness. I have brought you the latest results."