Chapter 150: The Anti-Messiah

"Bah, disgusting."

Spitting out the residue in his mouth, Roland casually shook the headless corpse in his hand with a look of utter distaste.

Apollo could not even utter a scream before dying so easily. From the gaping hole in his neck, crimson blood gushed out like a shaken soda bottle with its cap suddenly popped open.

Looking at the corpse in his hand, Roland did not immediately toss it to the ground, choosing instead to gaze at it quietly.

"What are you playing dead for? It's just a fatal wound. Wake up!"

"BOOM—!"

As if in response to his words, the shattering roar generated by the eruption of a massive amount of power suddenly echoed through the night sky. From Apollo's decapitated body, a formidable power abruptly surged forth, shooting straight into the heavens, carrying a blinding radiance capable of scorching human eyes.

The momentum generated by this power reached all the way to the skies, startling flocks of birds into frantic flight even in the distant forests.

A millennium ago, the gods descended to the mortal realm to forge a brand-new myth.

After engaging in numerous conflicts with the Dungeon and eventually reaching a certain tacit understanding, sealing away their divine power had become a universal commandment for all deities.

Whether evil gods or benevolent gods, all were bound by this ironclad rule. Aside from their innate traits and knowledge, they had nothing else to rely on. Their physical constitutions were identical to those of ordinary mortals, meaning that theoretically, even an ordinary human was enough to inflict a fatal wound upon a god.

In reality, however, aside from the divine ascent incident orchestrated by the Evils decades ago, the ascension of a god had only ever occurred as a punishment during disasters or War Games.

The fundamental reason for this was that gods do not die.

Once subjected to a fatal wound, the divine power within them would automatically activate, erupting with formidable force as they returned to the celestial realm. Even if they did nothing before returning and simply allowed this power to run wild, it would be enough to obliterate everything in the surrounding area, let alone any madman attempting to slay a god.

And right now, what Roland was facing was precisely this essence of power.

Amidst the soaring pillar of light, Apollo's shattered head regenerated instantly, and the brilliance in his eyes right now was more dazzling than ever before.

Simultaneously, a massive gravitational pull was slowly dragging him upward toward the heavenly realm; the commandment, sensing the fluctuation of divine power, had triggered itself.

"You vile creature! A mere denizen of the lower realm! Even if you have acquired a similar power, you can never triumph over a god!"

The resurrected Apollo glared furiously at Roland, and a profound, streaming light washed over Roland's body like fire.

Against the commandments jointly established by all the gods, even exhausting all his power left him unable to resist. In this state, he could no longer willfully unleash the power within his divinity through divine power. Therefore, he simply resorted to the most direct method.

It was a usage akin to the mana burst of heroic spirits. Apollo showed no mercy, bombarding Roland with the absolute strongest divine power he was capable of releasing.

Aside from the gods of heaven themselves, no one could withstand this near-omnipotent force. The surging power continuously expanded and erupted, spraying golden light and flames onto Roland like a volcanic eruption.

Tidal waves of power coagulated within this forest, completely flattening everything around them. Whether rocks or trees, everything began to collapse toward Roland as the epicenter. That terrifying pressure warped space itself, causing the very earth beneath Roland's feet to tremble and wail.

The divine power burned and danced wildly, transforming into a fiercely oppressive solar haze that slowly contracted, surrounding Roland at the center and pulsing like a beating heart. The power previously unleashed by Hyacinthus did not even measure up to the mere shockwaves Apollo was scattering right now.

This immense power even caused Roland's currently robust physique to creak, but Roland's slightly furrowed brow actually relaxed.

"What a truly rare spectacle to behold..."

The power of a god indeed far exceeded his imagination, yet it remained within his control.

Then, he took a deep breath.

Crimson magic light transformed into tangible vapor, flowing through Roland's body like scorching magma, causing even his dragon form to fracture with cracks resembling barren earth, through which scorching blood-fire could be seen.

The next moment, flames illuminated the sky.

A blinding crimson erupted overwhelmingly, entangling passionately and madly with the golden solar haze formed by the surrounding divine power.

That violent crimson converged like a tidal wave, trampling everything around it like a chariot, causing even the air to emit a miserable wail beneath this intense heat.

"How is this possible? My mastery over fire..."

Apollo let out a voice mixed with shock and doubt. The dazzling crimson tore the night sky apart one after another, leaving a mirrored reflection of mixed red and gold across the firmament, piercing through space like a long spear.

Loud, deafening explosions played in a continuous symphony. The crimson flames even assimilated the surrounding fire that had manifested as a sun, emitting majestic and massive roars amidst their inhalation and exhalation, sounding like an endless roaring dragon exhaling a breath that scorched the living earth.

Although he could no longer use divine power to shape specific attacks, Apollo could still utilize his inherent nature to transform divine power into the radiant fire of the sun to incinerate this lower realm. Yet right now, his own divine power refused to obey his control!

"No..."

However, leveraging his current perspective, Apollo soon realized the truth of the matter.

"What is being controlled is not my divine power, but the fire transformed from divine power!"

"We really are a terrible match for each other..."

Amidst the dragon shadow formed by the crimson waterfall, the demon of fire exhaled a scorching breath, the sound of beating war drums continuously thundering within his chest.

"Daring to play with fire in front of me, where do you get the courage?"

Unlike his initial, rudimentary application of demonic fire energy during his time in the Moon world, Roland had now begun learning to utilize the noble essence inherent to demonic fire.

When the divine fire of the sun came into contact with the demonic fire, his dragon breath naturally merged with this power. Like receiving nourishment, it frantically absorbed the divine power that constituted the flames.

Divine power as boundless as the ocean poured straight into Roland's body along this peculiar connection.

Just as he had envisioned, the divine power of the gods was fundamentally a very pure energy, merely evolving differently based on each individual's distinct nature.

And seizing this power by force through the demonic fire, this energy continuously flowed into his own body, promoting a vigorous leap in the activity of the demonic fire.

Compared to the spells—which could be slowly restored through the nourishment of flesh and soul as long as Roland remained alive—the demonic fire, being Roland's very origin, was somewhat more finicky to appease.

The experience points that had worked so well on the spells yielded not even a single spark when poured into the demonic fire; only stronger firewood could make the demonic fire burn fiercely.

Moreover, under the impact of this power, Roland received an unexpected harvest.

"Crack—!"

The sound of shattering echoed deep within his soul, subsequently intensifying and emitting a sound resembling a mournful wail.

A brilliance even deeper than the surrounding divine power leaked out from the fractures of the ten remaining spells within Roland's body.

Under such a powerful impact, although not yet fully restored, the outer shells of the spells had begun to crack progressively.

Soon, the twelve types of divine power would truly fuse into this physique, allowing Roland to completely shake off the very last redundant shackle upon his body!

Realizing this, Roland's eyes flickered slightly, and the corners of his mouth split into a terrifying arc.

It was time to turn the tables!

"Damn it!"

Apollo's face, which had just been filled with hatred and rage, instantly turned cold. Originally, he was the one exerting pressure on Roland, but abruptly, the dynamic had inverted!

"You actually dare to seize my power... You wretch!"

The divine power tied inextricably to his life was being extracted at an unimaginable speed. Even for a god, the cold and painful sensation of that life force draining away could be felt with agonizing clarity.

Yet right now, he possessed no power whatsoever to resist Roland. He could only force himself to stimulate his divine power even harder, channeling it into Roland's body in a vain attempt to completely bloat and rupture his opponent's physique.

"What do you think you are doing!"

Apollo knew that Roland was slowly regenerating using his own power, and thus he was unwilling to make wedding dresses for someone else. After all, a god's divine power was not so easily exploited. If it were just the previous scale, perhaps the opponent could maintain a balance, but what if he released it all in one breath?

At worst, he would simply die once in the lower realm.

No god feared death; even if divine power could not save them, after tens of thousands of years, they would still be reborn.

This was the fundamental reason why the gods viewed the lower realm as a game.

"Die! Roland!"

Apollo let out a tragic cry, his newly restored body tearing apart piece by piece under an offensive akin to self-detonation. Golden light transformed into a waterfall, flooding entirely into Roland's body in a single rush.

"You killed my familia, drove me out of Orario, and even laid hands on me, and I never thought to drag you down with me to the grave. But there is one thing I can never forgive—whose love do you think you are rejecting?! You are rejecting the love of a celestial god! I cannot tolerate this!"

Apollo roared, his facial features twisting together almost out of recognition.

"You can never kill me! Even if I must be reborn after ten thousand years, I will not spare you!"

As such overwhelming power surged into his body all at once, Roland's expression shifted slightly, but upon hearing Apollo's declaration, he merely sneered.

"——A corpse is talking."

"Eh—?"

Before Apollo could comprehend the meaning of Roland's words, he suddenly noticed that his opponent's physique—which had begun expanding due to the vast amount of divine power—was slowly returning to normal.

The absorption rate, which had previously begun to slow down, suddenly increased severalfold, becoming even more ferocious than before. However, it was not merely absorbing his power anymore; it was also reflecting back some unique traits.

Is it like that single-eyed black dragon, possessing the ability to nullify divine power? Could this fellow also be a product of the Dungeon?

Regarding that black dragon known as the bane of the gods, Apollo felt deep apprehension. Subconsciously, he raised his hand, attempting to capture a shred of this newly emerged, peculiar power.

Then, what met his eyes was his own bare wrist.

From his five fingers all the way to his wrist, that portion had vanished. There was no wound, no discomfort, as if it had simply been wiped away by an eraser.

Yet without anyone needing to remind him of this bizarre sensation, Apollo could tell something was terribly wrong.

Immediately following that, more blank spaces began appearing across his body, one after another—sometimes his chest, sometimes his elbow.

Miraculously, even though there was no connection between his wrist and his shoulder, and the region of his chest belonging to his internal organs was entirely blank, Apollo was still moving quite normally, able to operate his wrist and breathe naturally, as if his anatomy had inherently been structured this way from birth.

But how could that be?

He was the noble sun god, ruling over the sun... and what else was there?

The lapse in his memory filled Apollo with genuine terror. His body, and even his divine power, were merely the external shells of the gods.

The divine domains belonging to them were their more essential existences; as long as their authority remained, even if thoroughly slain, they would still be reborn under the mighty force of time.

Yet it was a different story if even this core essence was erased. Though he had never experienced it before, Apollo understood why death was truly the ultimate end of everything.

"Ah—!"

He let out a terrified shriek, attempting to cut off his own limbs to make a decisive retreat back to the heavenly realm, but the power he released from his body now was like the difference between a firefly and the bright moon compared to before.

Divine power still existed within his body, but now, its upper limit was as negligible as dust.

"Impossible! My power! My power!"

Apollo wailed, having lost his very core essence as well. "Monster, you are a monster even more terrifying than that black dragon! But you cannot possibly pull this off! No one in this world is supposed to be able to slay a god! What is that thing? Do not come near me!"

Apollo frantically flailed his mutilated limbs, looking in sheer terror at the blank spaces expanding bit by bit across his body and the black mud that had completely overwritten his divine power.

"This is the power of human evil."

Looking at the pathetic Apollo, Roland's gaze held neither sorrow nor joy as he spoke softly.

Behind him, having absorbed power of such high quality as divine power, his shadow expanded once more, directly blanketing the ruins of the forest below.

Though the great red dragon with seven heads and ten horns had not yet fully awakened, utilizing its shadow was already sufficient to display its authority.

With every shift of the shadow, a portion of Apollo's essential existence was directly erased.

"As I said, we really are a terrible match for each other."

Roland sighed. Although he had nearly been blown apart by the divine power of Apollo's desperate mutual destruction, he had never once felt that the situation was out of his control. This was precisely the confidence brought by his second status grid.

"Remember it well... This is the Beast of VI, the power of rebellion forged from humanity's sins and crimes, the most fundamental negation of the gods, and my very own exclusive authority. It is—"

As Apollo's body was completely erased, vanishing entirely from the records of this world, Roland uttered the true name of this beastly authority.

"——【Anti-Messiah】."