"Those phantoms that appeared before also vanished somewhere in the Far Eastern islands. Do you think there's any connection?"
Shiva's youthful features remained pleasant, but his tone carried an edge that made even the most powerful devils tense.
"I don't quite understand what you mean, Lord Shiva?"
Ajuka maintained his diplomatic smile, though internally he grimaced. He'd been caught completely off guard when Takeyo showed him Vishnu's severed arm. According to his understanding, Takeyo wouldn't provoke someone of that caliber without good reason.
In other words, something must have happened to force Takeyo's hand against Vishnu. When Takeyo had casually mentioned killing the god, Ajuka had actually believed him, as ridiculous as that sounded.
"I hope you truly don't know anything."
Shiva's eyes narrowed slightly. They'd been dancing around the topic like this for several minutes now, and it was getting them nowhere.
Besides, his intuition was just that, intuition. Though it was rarely wrong, he couldn't exactly declare war on the Three Factions based solely on a hunch.
Eventually, Shiva departed without obtaining any concrete answers. After all, the Biblical faction had reached unprecedented levels of power. Even he was reluctant to provoke them without solid proof.
"You kids really have some nerve."
Once Shiva left, a white-haired old man from the Norse pantheon spoke up with an appreciative sigh. His single eye gleamed with knowing amusement.
His name was Odin, the All-Father, infamous among gods for his... appreciation of the female form. Of course, he suppressed those tendencies during formal events like this.
"It's not about courage," Sirzechs replied with a diplomatic smile. "These things need people willing to do them, don't they?"
Of course, even they wouldn't have moved against Vishnu so quickly. It was only because of Takeyo's intervention that the timeline had accelerated.
"True enough. If we can't even coordinate our internal forces, what right do we have to resist external threats?"
Odin stroked his long white beard thoughtfully, then departed with his new Valkyrie escort.
That's right, new Valkyrie. He'd deliberately left Rossweisse behind in the Underworld, hoping to strengthen ties between Takeyo and the Norse pantheon. Unfortunately, Takeyo had vanished before any such connection could develop.
"Well then... let's see how this world develops from here."
Odin's pace quickened slightly as he left the venue.
With anticipation running high, the international competition finally commenced.
"Hello, everyone! I'm your host for this tournament!"
Serafall stood center stage wearing unusually formal attire, for her, anyway. Her voice carried its typical energy and enthusiasm as she addressed the assembled pantheons.
Only a Transcendent-Class Demon Lord could serve as host for an event of this magnitude. Of course, Serafall's presence confused many of the attending gods.
Logically, all Transcendent-level combatants should participate in such a competition. So why was the Biblical faction using one of theirs as a mere host? Didn't that seem wasteful?
Ignoring the puzzled stares, Serafall continued. "This time we have sixteen teams competing in total. We'll proceed with a one-on-one elimination format. The battle order will be determined by lots drawn by each faction's highest leader."
"Once we reach the semifinals, teams will engage in full squad battles."
"According to previous notifications, the top four ranking teams will gain corresponding leadership authority in joint operations against otherworldly threats. Are there any objections?"
Takeyo observed Serafall from the audience with mild amusement. He was genuinely unaccustomed to seeing her this professional.
What he was used to was more like, "Yang-kun, is this your new way of playing?" or "Yang-kun, next time bring Sona-tan along too, okay?"
"No objections."
Odin, who maintained close ties with the Three Factions, was first to voice his agreement.
"No objections."
That was Lugh, the Celtic god of light.
"None from humanity's side either."
Standing at the forefront of the human faction was Dulio Gesualdo. Behind him stood nothing but Longinus users, the entire Peacekeeping Team!
To be precise, these were members of what had been formed as the Peacekeeping Force. Though many weren't pure humans, most gods still regarded them as representing humanity.
They were considered serious contenders in this competition. After all, at least five of them could temporarily surpass Transcendent-Class through their Longinus abilities.
Issei Hyoudou, Red Dragon Emperor. Vali Lucifer, White Dragon Emperor. Cao Cao, True Longinus wielder. Dulio Gesualdo, team captain. Tobio Ikuse, Slash Dog.
None of these individuals were incapable of defeating Transcendent-level gods when they pushed their Sacred Gears to the limit.
Of course, the most important member wasn't actually any of them. The most critical was Valerie, the Holy Grail user.
The fact that Valerie had been used to mass-produce Evil Dragons and trigger the Evil Dragon War hadn't happened in this timeline. Nobody knew where this team had acquired a Holy Grail wielder.
However, with the Holy Grail's power, any injury, even death, could be reversed in moments. This instantly gave the "weak" human faction top-tier resilience in this competition!
The organization originally formed by the Three Factions not joining their camp in this competition puzzled many gods. This was about securing leadership rights, after all. Why let your own organization compete separately?
Still, despite their confusion, the alliance oath ceremony continued.
"The Hindu pantheon has no objections."
Shiva ignored the heated stare from Indra across the room. He knew Indra had always wanted to fight him, had even secretly trained Cao Cao's team of Longinus users for that purpose.
Shiva had no idea how Indra felt now that his former protégés had been recruited away. Probably frustrated. Not that Shiva cared. He was in an excellent mood today.
After some time, all the attending gods voiced their agreement. How could they object? They all had absolute confidence in their own strength. That's why these gods had come to participate personally.
"Then I announce that representatives from all pantheons should step forward to draw lots!"
Serafall declared energetically.
However...
In the next moment, Takeyo, watching from the audience, smirked knowingly. Just as he'd expected, that person had arrived.
"I have an objection!"
A man's voice rang out.
"CRACK!"
The sky shattered. The scene of dimensional rifts that most gods found all too familiar appeared once more!
Of course, nobody cared about the rift itself. What captured everyone's attention was the massive entity that emerged before them.
"The Beast Emperor bearing the name of the beast."
Shiva's eyes narrowed dangerously.
It was a colossal creature with seven heads, leopard, bear, wolf, dragon, each crowned with a blasphemous mockery of divine authority. The crowns bore three numbers: 666.
This was a beast inscribed in Biblical prophecy. Its entire body seemed spliced together from various creatures, radiating primal power and savagery.
"Did you lift its seal?"
Shiva directed the question at the man standing atop Trihexa's central head.
That's right, there was a man perched on the Beast of the Apocalypse. His name was Rizevim Livan Lucifer.
"Yes, that was me!"
A slightly manic smile played across Rizevim's features. Though he'd only been testing the seals, he hadn't expected to actually succeed in releasing the Beast Emperor!
He'd originally thought the worst-case scenario would require sacrificing himself to accomplish it. Little did he know, this was exactly what Takeyo had deliberately arranged!
"Jump while you still can. This is probably your last chance."
Takeyo smiled, gently stroking the head of the child-like figure in his arms, the God of the Bible.
Though both he and the God appeared so openly in the competition arena, nobody could sense their presence. That was already an absolute gulf in realm and power.
If not for these people being able to accomplish something useful together, he wouldn't have bothered coming at all.
"Almost there. Just a few more steps."
Golden light gleamed in the God's eyes.
Releasing Trihexa was something Takeyo had discussed with her from the very beginning. She had no objections. After all, with her and Takeyo working together, even Great Red could be defeated.
What they needed was a stage to demonstrate their power. Only after experiencing this level of crisis could the world's forces better coordinate.
Otherwise, without Takeyo and the God deliberately releasing control, how could Rizevim's meager strength possibly free Trihexa so easily?
"ROOOAR!"
The Beast Emperor's roar spread across the arena. In an instant, the venue was destroyed!
"Hahaha! Let me tell you the correct path forward! The truly correct way is to capture the Infinite Dragon God, the Red Dragon God Emperor, and all you gods one by one for research!"
Rizevim's crazed voice echoed across the battlefield.
"Rizevim, since you've come here to cause trouble, can we assume you've declared war on all the major pantheons?!"
Sirzechs spoke with stern authority, hurling a sphere of condensed Destruction Power at Rizevim.
After all, the performance was nearing its end. He needed to take things a bit more seriously now.
His words represented the stance of all attending gods. After all, none of these divine beings would accept being treated as research subjects. Such arrogance couldn't be tolerated.
However, unlike the gods who seemed to have their tails stepped on, Takeyo expressed high approval of what Rizevim said. Because what Rizevim described was actually accomplished in the later timeline.
Artificial Transcendence.
Though it couldn't reach the level of mass production Rizevim pursued, creating artificial Transcendent-Class beings was indeed possible in the later stages.
The reason Takeyo agreed with him was simple: in essence, this represented the path of technology, scientific research, and industrialization.
This was indeed one of the best methods if one didn't pursue higher realms but simply wanted Maou-Class and Transcendent-Class combat power.
Unfortunately, Takeyo knew now wasn't the time to pursue such civilization.
Hmm... civilization... ahem, only Takeyo could frame it that way.
"Then let them first experience the strength of the opponent they're about to face."
Takeyo watched Trihexa unleashing its aura and yawned. If they didn't get beaten thoroughly first, how would they understand who was in charge?
The more painful the beating now, the more cooperative they'd be afterward.
"ROOOAR!"
Trihexa's voice was frenzied and uncomfortable, violent, brutal, and chaotic.
That was everyone's first impression after witnessing Trihexa. Though nobody understood why the God of the Bible's seal had been broken so easily, now wasn't the time to ponder such questions!
Trihexa was a monster that could destroy the world if given enough time! If all the gods fought individually, they'd be easily defeated by the Beast Emperor. With its infinite regeneration, it possessed extraordinary power!
"BOOM!"
A main god was instantly incapacitated under Trihexa's breath! No, calling it an instant defeat was too generous. Even after deploying full defensive measures, he'd suffered crippling injuries that couldn't heal without Phoenix Tears.
And this was with him maintaining maximum defense!
Seeing the Beast Emperor's power, most gods without sufficient strength wisely retreated to the periphery. The battle inside should be left to the Transcendent bosses. They'd just be cannon fodder!
All the gods facing Trihexa felt immense pressure. They'd thought they were here to compete, to face opponents at similar levels. They hadn't expected to be confronted with the Beast Emperor instead. Wasn't this just inviting a beating?