"My body is ready… my energy will be set aside for now, and my spirit…" He began inspecting his spirit.
His spirit was his greatest weapon at the moment, still far more powerful than it should have been in this world. Yet it was wounded in multiple places and utterly unstable.
BZZZZ BZZZZ
Lightning coursed through it, consuming his spirit while it instinctively struggled with everything it had. If he didn't stop It soon enough, he would lose most of himself.
Along with that, his power.
He sighed, ordered the spirit to condense in order to stabilize and then…
BOOM BOOM BOOM
[ Skill Downgraded: Spirit (SSS+ → A) ]
| Your mastery over this skill has weakened.
He stopped fighting back. He allowed the spirit to be destroyed in many areas, drastically reducing his power…
Soon, the lightning faded, having exhausted its energy.
What remained of the spirit was significantly weaker, but also far more resistant to divine lightning than ever before. Something that would become essential in due time.
"With this, I'm back to the beginning…" He sighed, throwing himself down into the wheat field."Broke and only with the clothes on my back, it feels like I just broke up with a thick goth girlfriend." He chuckled.
He was now just an ordinary mortal.
Or at least, that's how he and the gods would see him.
He was nothing more than a mortal, with a perfect body, a spirit attuned to divine lightning unlike anything that had ever existed, in possession of a divine bird's corpse of immeasurable value, and five items that could only be crafted in the divine realm.
Two of which were the most powerful authorities in all existence.
Truly ordinary.
None of the gods would waste time looking at someone so mundane and unremarkable.
And so, the divine bird died, vanishing entirely from existence leaving only some fathers behind.
"I'm human now… I need a name," he told himself aloud."And preferably one that earns me respect—or at least makes people think twice. Something a bit mysterious and ominous would be good..."
"I shall be called Baal." He laughed to himself, amused. He had even stolen his name from a dead god.
[ Confirm Changes? ]
| You are about to assign a name.
| Yes or No
"Yes"
At that very moment, as he adopted the identity of Baal, one of the many divine fragments in his possession responded to the proclamation.
This fragment contained remnants of Baal's mind and divine aura.
It questioned whether this could truly be its master. But the instant it felt the electrified spirit, all doubts vanished. Not only was this undoubtedly its master… he had likely increased his mastery over lightning even further.
The fragment immediately rejoined with its master and told him some of the divine secrets that no beast should ever know.
The former divine bird would now be known as Baal and the world would recognize his divinity.
But that was not all…
Numerous other dormant fragments were quickly absorbed by the now awakened one, amplifying Baal's aura even more. All their residual minds were destroyed, only leaving the divine memories behind.
[ New Skill Acquired: Pseudo-Aura (SSS+) ]
| Description: Collected from many fallen gods, the fragments became one in a glorious act of resistance. And yet, all anyone can think is that you stole it.
| Releases the aura of a true deity.
| Damages the Spirit.
The divine aura merged into one.
"It worked… just as expected. I need to get out of here, I don't want to be associated with this place." Baal smiled through the process and walked away for some days, then looked skyward, turning off his concealment...
WHOOOM
He released his divine aura.
All living creatures in the area suddenly felt a terrible chill and feared for their lives. Many fainted instantly, while the gods who still resided in that world narrowed their eyes in irritation.
"Great… another flashy newcomer."
"Arrogant little brat, don't scare me like that!"
"Incredible… yet another troublemaker."
They were all annoyed, but ultimately ignored him. Just another attention-starved god screaming at the top of his lungs that he had arrived.
"Heaven! I, Baal, command you to grant me access to this world's system!" Baal shouted arrogantly to the skies, demanding his rights as a true deity. Rights that beasts like the divine bird could never have imagined even existed. But of course Baal knew.
He had always been a god.
Heaven answered his call with a grumble of irritation. This bastard was too loud! but really, what else could they expect from a god of thunder? Those bastards always thought they were the greatest.
[ Welcome Baal, to our world! We hope you find what you came looking for! ]
Heaven quickly verified his identity and confirmed it, this was Baal. So, it simply granted what he had requested.
[ Personal Stats ]
| Name: Baal
| Class: Thunder God
| Familia: Baal Familia ( Yet to be founded )
| Available members: 0
| Members in exploration: 0
| Members in …
[ UserGuide for Lower World #2-723, also known as Danmachi 2-1]
| This world has strict laws that must be followed to the letter. Read carefully and agree with the terms to stay here.
| Rule 1: …
A system window appeared before Baal, displaying a wide range of information about the world, as well as his current divine status.
He soon focused on learning more about this world.
In this world, gods and mortals, were not very different. Because, the use of divine powers was limited.
The reason for that, was at the center of the world, where stood a Dungeon. That would have dangerous reactions if it detected deities.
"Wait—this name…" His gaze locked onto the world registry, and even more so, onto its commonly used name.
Lower World #2-723, aka Danmachi 2-1.
Baal furrowed his brow and tried to remember.
A memory long buried beneath dust and time was slowly being revisited, after what felt like an eternity.
"Ah, I remember!"He became visibly excited for a moment—and after double-checking the world's details, he was certain.
This was that world.
The one with the boy who looked like a rabbit, and where every woman seemed to fall head over heels for him.
He burst into laughter, the kind of laugh one lets out after hitting a jackpot.
That boy had close ties with Zeus…
Baal stood up, brushing the dirt off his rear.
He had many goals ahead of him.
But the most immediate, the most satisfying one, would be to fuck over Zeus again, where it hurt the most… He gonna fuck over Bell! and right after that, ruin the fun of those pathetic, mediocre gods.
Sooner or later, he would destroy this world with all the gods along with it and then return to meet with Zeus.
He then paused for just a moment, curious about the meaning behind those numbers.
He understood they were identifiers. The digits likely pointed to the world index. But what about the dashes? Perhaps a world category… but what kind?
He dismissed the thought and turned his spirit inward, gazing once more into the small bag tied to his waist.
Inside it… was a box.
The box was crafted from steel, bronze, and other legendary, divine-grade materials gathered from the battlefield.
These had been melted down into a single artificial alloy — And using his former powers as the divine bird, Baal had altered the very structure of the metal.
He made it even more resistant to lightning, sacrificing other properties in the process. In the same way he made himself weaker but faster than Zeus.
What he had created was an impossible light, nearly useless alloy, devoid of versatility or practical application.
So why make such an expensive yet seemingly worthless item?
Because of what lay inside.
Inside the box were two items—each as impossible as the other.
The only two authorities over divine lightning in existence.
'I'll give you both my full attention later,' Baal thought to himself. 'Now what is this Familia thing?'
However, he suddenly shivered, feeling watched.
Someone had found him.