As a messenger, Hermes was quite cunning.
Even though the several Full-Authority Domain beings had specially instructed him to persuade Su Mo, he had no intention of actually carrying out the order at the risk of angering him.
What a joke. If this Master of the Christian Church was so easy to deal with, how did the Son of God fall into his hands? And hadn't the World-Honored One and the Twin Goddesses had contact with Su Mo before?
Even if they didn't have much of a friendship, they had a basis for dialogue. These bigwigs had deliberately avoided Su Mo when making their decision, clearly knowing that he would not agree. So why should he bother?
"A wise judgment." Su Mo nodded, with no intention of making him stay.
"You praise me too highly!" Hermes humbly took off his hat and bowed again.
"Finally, although you may not want to hear it and most likely will not do it, due to my duty, I must once again emphasize to you the most important request of the gods—please, do not engage in a direct confrontation with Azi Dahaka. At least not now."
This was the second time Hermes had made this request, and it was also the first thing he had said after arriving.
At the very beginning, when she heard this, Shiroyasha had subconsciously thought that the god-groups were considering Little Garden's well-being, not wanting Su Mo's power to aid the enemy and make Azi Dahaka unbeatable.
But now...
"Hmph!" The white-haired girl sneered sarcastically. "Are you afraid that after Su Mo joins the battle, Azi Dahaka's strength will grow too quickly, and the gods won't have time to escape?" She had seen through their thoughts in a single sentence.
The so-called "not enough time" was not enough time to escape.
"...I cannot refute that." Hermes sighed. "In any case, I have delivered the message. What you do is up to you, Lord Su Mo. An existence of your level is not someone I can persuade. Please excuse this lowly god!"
Hermes clearly had some reservations about the gods' decision, so he did not intend to cooperate fully. After saying what needed to be said, he prepared to leave.
Neither Su Mo nor Shiroyasha had any intention of keeping this messenger. After all, Hermes was not worth it. What they wanted to do was not something that a mere sentence from Hermes could interfere with.
However, just as Hermes was about to take a step with his long boots and activate his messenger's authority to travel from the lower world to the Celestial Realm in a single step...
CRACKLE!
An angry thunderbolt struck in front of him, blocking his path. Even the goose feather on his hat was scorched by the lightning.
"Indra?" Hermes's heart skipped a beat. He immediately raised his hands in a gesture of surrender and slowly turned to look at the furious god of thunder.
Clearly, he had not expected this one to be the first to erupt.
"Hermes!" A thunderous voice carried the majesty of a war god. Indra's gaze was as scorching as lightning.
He shifted his gaze from the hundreds of millions of god-groups above and landed on Hermes's hand. "Are you sure that what you just said is the will of the god-groups, the will of Shakyamuni?"
Indra's voice was filled with a deep anger, and he glared at the messenger before him with a look of extreme grief and indignation.
"While our Divine Army was fighting with all its might against Azi Dahaka, while my subordinates were suffering millions of casualties, while I was reporting the news of the Last Embryo... you had already made the decision to abandon the entire Little Garden?"
Even Indra, who usually respected the World-Honored One of Buddhism and had a faith in Buddhism that surpassed Shiroyasha's by several times, could not tolerate the current situation.
He raised his head slightly, as if questioning the heavens. "While our Divine Army is still fighting for its mission, you, the upper echelons of the god-groups, the leaders and creators of Little Garden, are actually going to abandon your duties and take the opportunity to flee?"
The fig leaf had been completely torn off. Indra's questioning was deafening.
In the sky above, among the phantoms of the hundreds of millions of god-groups, many deities lowered their heads in shame, but most remained expressionless, completely unmoved.
In the face of a god-group-level plan, in the face of the determination to rebuild a new Little Garden, even the human history that had been completed so far was being abandoned.
What was there to care about a mere million members of the Divine Army?
To put it bluntly, Indra was just a security guard hired by the god-groups. A three-family slave like him had no right to question the decisions of the upper echelons of the god-groups.
"..."
The entire scene fell silent. Hermes had nothing to say. For the war god fighting on the front lines, this behavior was indeed a betrayal. The hundreds of millions of gods also remained silent.
The decision of the upper echelons of the god-groups was not something that could be easily overturned. The more cohesive a god-group was, the less likely they were to question their leader at a critical moment.
The remaining members of the Divine Army, under the impact of this shocking fact, their eyes filled with confusion, not knowing what to do.
"Good! Good!" Seeing no one answer, Indra's eyes turned cold. "I don't understand the decisions of those bigwigs, but as one of the leaders of the Divine Army, I will not abandon my duty to protect Little Garden... You can leave if you want!"
For the first time in his life, Indra felt a complete disappointment in the hundreds of millions of gods. He knew that with Shakyamuni's usual purpose, there must be a reason for making such a decisive choice.
But he also knew that this act of evading the problem was definitely not the style of a god.
If, at a critical moment, the spirit shown by the gods was not even as good as that of mere humans, what right did they have to guide the development of the world?
"Indra, you..." Seeing Indra calm down from his anger, Hermes hesitated to speak. He had originally intended to go back and report directly, but the war god's roar had made him hesitate. Should he really go back, abandon all the glory that had been accumulated in the past, and build a new Little Garden?
He couldn't help but look up at the majestic and burly Great Father God Zeus among the hundreds of millions of god-groups, and his footsteps began to falter. This kind of weak behavior was not in line with the usual heroic style of the Greek pantheon.
While he was hesitating...
Tap!
A slight footstep sounded.
Hermes looked back. Su Mo handed the clinging rabbit-eared girl to Leticia, then took a step forward. A majestic Divinity was unleashed, and a powerful pressure radiated from his body, facing Azi Dahaka from afar.
"Lord Su Mo!" Hermes's eyes widened. Even though he had expected this result, he had not expected Su Mo to be so decisive.
He was actually going to go to war with the Last Embryo, completely disregarding the request of the hundreds of millions of god-groups?
Even Azi Dahaka, who had been watching the development of the situation, couldn't help but fix his ruby eyes on the only being who dared to show fighting intent towards him at this time. "Although I haven't figured out your specific Divinity yet, to dare to challenge me after seeing the terrified faces of the gods..."
A ferocious smile appeared on the corners of the three-headed dragon's mouth, but his eyes were filled with admiration. "Even if you are a god, I recognize you as a rare hero in my life!"
In the confrontation between gods and demons, the hundreds of millions of god-groups were hesitant to advance. This could not but make Azi Dahaka have respect for Su Mo. The praise from a Last Embryo made many of the hundreds of millions of god-groups lower their heads.
If it were an ordinary god, this recognition would indeed be an honor. But for Su Mo...
He chuckled and shook his head, as if he had heard something funny. "You seem to have misunderstood something, Azi Dahaka... In this battle, you are the challenger!"
The extremely calm words seemed particularly confident at this moment.
That proud tone made Azi Dahaka show an even more joyous, delighted, and ugly expression. "Interesting! Then use flesh and blood to prove your justice!" the three-headed dragon said excitedly, also completely releasing his pressure.
A vast Divinity, compounded by a million members of the Divine Army, radiated out.
His Draconic Remnant rose like wings, and his ruby eyes completely locked onto the prey on the ground, assuming a pouncing posture.
One on the ground, one in the sky.
The majestic pressure of their Divinities had long surpassed the limit that the lower world could bear, causing the surrounding space to whine.
The momentum of the two alone would have an irreversible impact on Little Garden, but at this moment, no one cared about these minor details.
Just as the momentum of both sides was gradually rising, at a critical juncture, the hundreds of millions of gods above finally couldn't sit still.
"Your Excellency Su Mo, could you give us some face and wait for us to transfer before you have your decisive battle with Azi Dahaka?" Hades, the god of the underworld, his voice transmitted through the deep earth.
Unlike Hermes, who had the authority of wisdom, he really did not understand why Su Mo would refuse the gods' proposal, especially when the conditions offered by the World-Honored One were so generous.
He also did not understand why the World-Honored One of Buddhism and the Twin Goddesses were so sure that Su Mo would absolutely not agree to their plan.
But he understood one thing: if Su Mo really started fighting with Azi Dahaka now, none of their hundreds of millions of god-groups would be able to leave.
If he did not want the hundreds of millions of god-groups to leave, they would have no chance to leave.
This Master of the Christian Church had that level of deterrence.
That was why he had made this request at this moment. He knew that he was just a marginalized main god of Greece and was not a big shot to Su Mo, but now, behind him stood hundreds of millions of god-groups, plus bigwigs like the Twin Goddesses.
No matter how arrogant Su Mo was, he wouldn't refuse to give this much face, right?
Although hundreds of millions of god-groups together might not be able to defeat a Last Embryo like Azi Dahaka, defeating Su Mo, the Master of the Christian Church, should not be a big problem.
A hundred million against one, the advantage was on their side!
Hades, who had made such a proposal, obviously did not notice that after he spoke, Athena, the goddess of victory, silently moved away from his position.
And on the ground, hearing Hades's sudden request, Su Mo was slightly taken aback, then burst out laughing.
Give you some face?
"Excuse me... who are you?"
This almost humiliating question made Hades's face flush, but he dared not be disrespectful to Su Mo and could only say in a muffled voice, "I am the Gr— I am Hades, the god of the underworld!"
He had originally wanted to loudly proclaim his name as a main god of the Greek pantheon, but halfway through, he was slapped by Zeus and could only change his words in confusion, only stating his title.
"Oh." Hearing the name of this 3-Digit deity, Su Mo nodded faintly and then said, "I am now going to defeat Azi Dahaka. Anyone who obstructs me is my enemy." As he spoke, his sharp gaze turned to Hades. "You, wish to be my enemy?"
The sharp gaze made Hades subconsciously lean back, as if he would be pierced by an arrow if he didn't.
Being spoken to in such a way by Su Mo, who had killed the Son of God, an extreme fear subconsciously emerged in Hades's heart.
He knew that the other party really had the ability to kill him.
But looking at the hundreds of millions of god-groups around him, Hades took a deep breath and calmed down. It was not shameful to admit defeat, but it was very shameful to admit defeat in front of hundreds of millions of god-groups. Moreover, it was not yet time to bow his head.
Although he was suspected of borrowing the tiger's might, he still forced himself to speak. "Your Excellency Su Mo, I do not intend to make things difficult for you, but this decision is the will of the gods. Even if you insist on fighting a battle with Azi Dahaka that is destined to have no result, you can wait until after we leave."
Hearing this, most of the hundreds of millions of god-groups nodded. That's right! There was no conflict between them escaping and Su Mo fighting.
If Su Mo wanted to die, he could go ahead! As long as he left them some time to escape.
Although Su Mo had no obligation to cooperate with them, in the eyes of the gods, being so eager to have a decisive battle with Azi Dahaka was clearly deliberately sabotaging their strategic retreat plan.
Seeing that all the gods agreed with his view, Hades gradually gained confidence, and his courage also grew. "This is the joint decision of the Twin Goddesses, the World-Honored One of Buddhism, and many other god-group leaders, and even hundreds of millions of god-groups. Even if you are the Master of the Christian Church, it's best not to defy the will of hundreds of millions of god-groups, right?"
The sonorous question echoed between heaven and earth.
The union of hundreds of millions of god-groups had increased Hades's right to speak by countless times at this moment.
No matter how he wanted to respond, he had to take into account the existence of the hundreds of millions of god-groups behind him.
"Ah, I understand." Su Mo nodded in realization and said so.
Just as Hades thought that his words had made Su Mo realize the seriousness of the matter and was about to add a few more good words to give the other party a way out, and also give them a chance to escape...
Su Mo raised his eyes slightly. His sharp gaze moved from Hades, swept past the World-Honored One of Buddhism and the Twin Goddesses, and then enveloped the hundreds of millions of god-groups.
Then, facing these hundreds of millions of god-groups, this unprecedented grand alliance of god-groups, these multiple Full-Authority Domain leaders, he conjured a crimson longsword in his palm, its tip pointing directly at the hundreds of millions of gods.
"So, you wish to be my enemy?"
Under the dumbfounded gazes of all the gods and buddhas of the three realms, he revealed a madness that completely surpassed that of the Last Embryo, Azi Dahaka.
"Before I reclaim Avesta, reclaiming your cosmologies seems like a good choice as well."
"The ants blocking my path, whether I kill one or a hundred million, there is no essential difference... If you are concerned about being destroyed by Azi Dahaha, I don't mind sending you on your way."
That abnormally indifferent tone and abnormally calm expression were deeply imprinted in the souls of all the beings present.