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"Not good, my vision and Spiritual Sense have both been blocked."

One of the Demon Assessment candidates cried out in alarm.

Then, screams rang out one after another.

"Buzz~!"

Hermes felt his sea of consciousness tremble. His Spiritual Sense wavered, but he didn't notice anything else unusual.

"Everyone, watch out! There's something strange about that blond brute!"

A group of mysterious figures clad in earthen-yellow armor darted through the grid-like rooms of Blocking Castle.

"Ah, a sneak attack!"

"Damn it, why are you attacking me?"

"Pfft, pfft, pfft~!"

Screams and the clash of weapons rang out without end.

Relying on his strength and combat experience, Hermes fought fiercely against the Yellow Armored Persons who appeared from time to time.

The Yellow Armored Persons carried the Blocking Gold Sabers described in the token's instructions.

Their dazzling color made them impossible to mistake.

"Boom~!"

He blasted apart a Yellow Armored Person who had tried to ambush him with a single punch.

He casually tossed the broken body into his Space Ring. He'd sort through them properly later; he couldn't just devour them all at once.

The amount of Ink Stone needed to Refine Sovereign Power was terrifying. It wasn't wealth he could accumulate in a short time.

After killing just one person,

Hermes had also obtained a Blocking Gold Saber, which meant he had essentially secured the Demon Assessment mission in advance.

After that,

he stopped rushing to kill the Yellow Armored Persons and instead carefully studied the Golden Space before him.

"This Yellow Sand Domain is interesting. It seems to be a fused ultimate move cast by someone who cultivates the Great Earth Law."

As someone who also cultivated the Great Earth Law, Hermes had a high talent ceiling, and his insight was naturally impressive.

He spotted the key at a glance.

"Earth Element, Gravity Space, and perhaps Earth Walking Technique as well."

Since the Yellow Armored Persons could move freely through Blocking Castle, this place must involve the Earth Walking Technique Mysteries of the Earth Element.

"It's not perfect. The Yellow Sand Domain seems to have quite a few flaws."

Hermes simply stood there, while earthen-yellow threads of the Great Earth Law flickered constantly in his eyes.

He could see at a glance that the Yellow Sand Domain contained three kinds of Law Profound Mysteries, and he could also spot the places where their fusion was less than seamless.

"Perhaps it could be done this way."

In that brief moment, Hermes had already begun to grasp the Earth Walking Technique Mysteries.

At the same time, he began to explore the possibility of fusing Gravity Space with Earth Walking Technique.

Of the two Great Earth Law Profound Mysteries he currently knew, Strength was the first Mystery he had comprehended before becoming a God.

But Gravity Space was the one Hermes understood and had comprehended most deeply.

Because of the Golden Space within him!

Though they were two completely unrelated things, he had still seen something they shared in common.

This had deepened his understanding of the Mysteries of Gravity Space.

"If I can completely integrate the 'Earth Walking Technique Mysteries' into my ultimate move, 'Mist Shadow Heavy,' could I make my combat rhythm even faster?"

One thought after another took shape!

Hermes actually began trying to fuse them.

After all, he had long since thoroughly comprehended the Mysteries of Gravity Space, while he had only just begun to grasp the Earth Walking Technique Mysteries.

This was precisely in keeping with the essence of fusing Law Profound Mysteries.

Don't assume that thoroughly comprehending one Mystery makes fusing Law Profound Mysteries easier.

Thoroughly comprehending one Mystery

was like first drawing out an entire thread of Law.

Mystery Fusion was equivalent to binding another thread of Law to the first, forming an inseparable, organic whole.

It might seem to offer more choices, but in fact, it made things harder.

A complete thread of Law was intricate and contained the Great Dao of the universe. Picking out the right parts to fuse was actually very difficult.

When it came to Mystery Fusion, the best approach was to comprehend and fuse at the same time.

Even in the middle of battle, Hermes was already impatient to study the fusion of Law Profound Mysteries.

There was no helping it.

An opportunity like this was too rare!

"Damn it, my Soul Mist can't affect this guy!"

The Weird Masked Person gripping the Withered Wood Scepter snarled, "Blocking Knights, hurry up and eliminate this bunch of vermin! We still have to deal with those Star Demons!"

"Yes, Gatekeeper!"

Seven or eight hulking figures clad in black heavy armor appeared, then vanished into the sand-and-stone walls in the blink of an eye.

"Ah~!"

"Help~!"

These were probably Blocking Castle's trump-card fighters. The moment they appeared, they began reaping the lives of several candidates.

Although most were Middle Gods, none of them were pushovers, or they wouldn't have taken part in the Demon Assessment.

They had either comprehended multiple High-level Profound Mysteries of a Law or had reached the threshold of Mystery Fusion.

Though that didn't increase their combat power, it gave them more varied fighting styles and deepened their understanding of the Mysteries they had already comprehended.

It wasn't as though comprehending a Mystery meant you had completely mastered it.

Let alone comprehending it—

Even Paragon High-Gods who had fused an entire Law into one couldn't claim to understand the Law perfectly.

Because even Paragons of the same Law might have different fighting styles due to their different understandings of its Profound Mysteries.

Some excelled at material attacks, while others were better at the soul.

The ultimate moves they created using the complete Law also differed.

That was reality!

There was no question of one being superior, but even Paragons might have aspects they didn't understand.

"I don't want to die!"

The instant the Blocking Knights attacked, the Demon Mission candidates—who had already lost more than half their number—fell silent in the blink of an eye.

At that moment, only the Blue-Haired Hook-Nosed Man remained beside Freya.

His expression was grim.

"I never thought a mere Demon Assessment would leave me in such a desperate situation. I still have dreams. I still want to become an unparalleled powerhouse and return to my home plane."

The Blue-Haired Hook-Nosed Man had fallen into utter despair.

Schemes, alliances, and everything else were all bullshit in the face of overwhelming strength!

"Whoosh~!"

Another burly figure clad in pitch-black heavy armor appeared. A long blade suddenly slashed out from the sand-and-stone wall.

"Pfft~!"

The blade pierced straight through her body. Blood spilled from Freya's lips, and disbelief flashed in her eyes.

"Weren't they all supposed to be my shields? Why are they using me to block a blade?"

"Hahaha, you stinking woman, are you surprised? Did you think we were all after your beauty?"

The Hook-Nosed Man sneered.

"What a lovely fantasy. In the face of absolute strength, your beauty isn't worth a damn."

"Boom~!"

The shadow in heavy armor swung its blade.

The instant Freya's divine body froze, it punched again, and Freya's head exploded on the spot.

Her headless body flew away, leaving behind a puddle of strangely colored liquid.

The Hook-Nosed Man seized the chance to dodge, narrowly escaping the fatal blow.

"Damn it, what are those Star Demons doing? How did those black-armored powerhouses get the chance to attack us?"

Even though he was only a Middle God, the Hook-Nosed Man knew the newly arrived fighters in heavy armor were beyond their ability to handle.

They must have been the targets of the Star Demons who had come this time.

"Waaah~!"

The Hook-Nosed Man wept bitterly. All of this was visible to Hermes through his Spiritual Sense.

"Tsk~! So divine beings can lose control of their bladders when they die, too?"

Freya must have become a God with her Saint Domain Original Body. He hadn't seen a Saint Domain Original Body escape from the Soul Ocean.