It's Time to Launch a Great Crusade.

"Gods cannot be completely killed, because they can be resurrected as long as their divine essence is reactivated. However, it is not difficult to make them 'defeat' and fall into a state of dormancy."

In fact, if someone were determined, they could end the war overnight and kill all the opposing gods... but they have no interest in the weak, and the remaining Old Deus are evenly matched, which is why the war has dragged on until now.

Regardless of whether the villagers could understand her or not, Iori said leisurely, "But I don't mind taking the extra effort."

"Do you want to duel that god of war?"

On a cliff overlooking the land, Iori heard Ciel's voice from behind.

The girl, who had grown her silver hair long, had matured considerably since their first meeting. Her demeanor was somewhere between a young girl and a mature woman. She wore a white double-breasted coat, reached out to tuck the wind-blown strands of hair behind her ear, and looked at Iori with some concern.

Ciel was specially summoned by Iori to complete the "Salvation of all humanity". Although he could do it himself, he felt that Ciel had to be present out of sentiment - consider it a belated Valentine's Day gift.

After talking with Athena and learning about Iori's thoughts and the situation in this world, she, who always had complete faith in her lover, couldn't help but worry.

"You have already grasped the talent of the Dragon Race and further completed your own dimensional overlap... There is no need for you to stay here any longer, right? We can cast the Third Magic on all the survivors and then take them away."

"That's certainly possible."

Iori turned her head and stared at her intently. "But Arteshu is waiting for me."

"..."

Ciel sighed softly, then a doting yet helpless smile appeared on her lips.

Her destined partner is generally not a hot-blooded young man who gets easily impulsive; he prefers to plan things out before acting. But precisely because of this, if his fighting spirit is ignited, it's very difficult to dissuade or change his mind.

In situations like this, a perfect wife should wholeheartedly support him.

"Then let's go and take the Crown of this world, Iori."

"Yes, thank you, Ciel."

Iori gently held her in his arms.

He has many female confidantes, but Ciel is probably the one who best fits the role of "wife".

"... Shall we get down to business?"

Athena frowned. "It seems I've come at the wrong time."

A few steps away, Athena, who looked almost identical to Sera, stood there gracefully. Apart from her eye color being different from Ciel's, the two had a bit of a sisterly feel to them.

But her expression was quite dissatisfied; she was practically glaring at Iori and Ciel, and it was unclear what she was angry about.

"No, you've come at just the right time."

Ciel smiled and extended her hand to Athena—

Instead, she hugged Iori's waist tightly, her voice becoming sweet and charming.

"Could you please take a picture for us? I'd like to record this moment."

Athena: "..."

That woman is so annoying!

"Speaking of the God of War, what are your thoughts? Are you confident of victory?"

Athena asked Iori.

"Well, I'm not very confident. The Old Deus in this world are all manifestations of certain concepts. The God of War Arteshu, is the embodiment of 'battle' and 'the strongest.' Theoretically speaking, it's impossible to kill him by force."

"Aren't there any restrictions?"

Ciel joined the discussion, "It can't be that they're powerful without any reason, right?"

"That's exactly why it's so tricky."

Iori shook his head. "I've seen his battle with End Dragon. As the most powerful Dragon Race, End Dragon might even be the most powerful being in this world. It can summon countless versions of itself from parallel worlds from the timeline and superimpose them onto the 'present' to gain infinite power—yet it still lost."

"Even you are helpless?"

Athena's golden eyes reflected Iori's pensive face.

"You've already surpassed End Dragon, haven't you?"

Iori carefully said, "His existence is the strongest, just like the 'Principle of Comparison (Fou)'. No matter what, he will be stronger than his opponent, so even someone as strong as End Dragon can only die with regret."

While I may be superior, as long as I exist in this world, I will ultimately be surpassed by the "strongest," for this is the truth of this universe.

"In other words, if we only increase physical destructive power or energy scale, no matter how much we increase it, it will be absolutely impossible to defeat Arteshu?"

"That's right, that's exactly what I mean."

"In that case, you have two choices."

Athena, as expected of the Goddess of Wisdom, immediately provided Iori with a feasible solution.

"One is to escape this universe and find a battlefield that is not bound by 'Rules'."

Since Arteshu is currently the "strongest" in the world, he will naturally lose the protection of this concept once he leaves this place.

"That's true, but it's very difficult to take him out of here. If you want to seal off his concept, going to a parallel world is definitely not enough. You need Other Universe with a completely different worldview."

My ability to travel through time can only be used on myself and my 'possessions'... If I could obtain the Golden Race's legacy in 'The Heroic Age,' I might be able to open the gate to Other Universe."

Iori nodded.

Athena held up a second finger. "There is another way, which is to fight it head-on and kill it honorably."

"Um?"

Ciel immediately turned her head and said, "What are you talking about? Didn't we just conclude that this guy is unbeatable? How come suddenly..."

At this moment, she noticed that Iori was not surprised, but rather seemed to agree wholeheartedly, and immediately realized that there were some mysteries involved that she could not understand.

"Iori, is this okay?"

"It is possible, but it is quite difficult to do."

Iori smiled and said, "Arteshu is indeed the strongest, but he is neither immortal nor eternal."

[The strongest] will always be above everyone else, but Ciel, you also need to understand:

The strong are not immune to being killed by the weak.

Upon hearing this, Ciel seemed thoughtful, while Athena nodded in satisfaction, for Iori had reached the same conclusion as her.

"Listen carefully, this is the advice of the Goddess of Wisdom:"

To challenge Arteshu, you must kill him with power no greater than that of the God of War!

"Arrogant!"

Disdain and rage filled the heart of the Forest God Kainas, whose divine will manifested as a verdant sprite, appearing before the kneeling high-ranking Forest Spirit Race nobles. At the same time, incredibly complex multi-faceted spells unfolded in the sky, dominating the entire field of vision like a dazzling constellation, demonstrating the majesty of a god's descent.

As expected of our lord—the high nobles knelt on the ground, especially Jinna, who had just returned, and was trembling with fear.

In this world, Mortal Race are simply unable to cast multiple True Magic simultaneously. The exceptionally gifted Forest Spirit Race can perform multiple spells, but most are limited to three or four levels. Reaching five levels is considered genius, and eight levels is an extremely rare prodigy.

But at this moment, with a single thought from the Old Deus, the most complex True Magic in the world was unleashed. Each small component contained dozens of spells, and the whole was composed of dozens of components of varying sizes, which interlocked to create countless possibilities, like a kaleidoscope.

This is no longer True Magic, but a true miracle!

What's most shocking is that this wasn't even an attack; it was merely a manifestation of Kainas's enraged state of mind.

"Jinna of the Yubinarus Clan, come forward."

The clan leader of the Forest Spirit Race, or "Chairman," stood beside the Forest God Kainas, calling out the name of Jinna.

"That 'God of Man' really wants you to deliver the declaration of war?"

"Yes... no, it's not!"

"Um?"

"Ugh... My lord, he said... this isn't a declaration of war... it's... um, it's an attempt to persuade him to surrender."

Jinna could barely speak, managing to utter one word at a time.

Upon hearing this, almost all the Forest Spirit Race couldn't help but laugh, while Kainas felt that he had been looked down upon by a "junior".

"Hmph, you don't need to be afraid, my child. Compared to such arrogant remarks, it is the fact that mere humans can activate their divine essence with their beliefs and give birth to their own gods that surprises me."

Kainas scoffed, "If he wants war, then let him fight!"

Tell me where he is, and I will make him pay for his arrogant words!

"Yes, my lord! My father!"

Jinna said excitedly, "He stayed with the humans, saying he needed to deal with other threats before the final battle with Arteshu, which is why he let me come back."

"...What? Arteshu?"

"Yes, yes, the God of War has already made an appointment to fight him... The [Flügel]'s Floating Fortress has begun to move, and the hunt has been temporarily suspended in order to accumulate strength... Didn't you know about this?"

Jinna looked at the forest god she worshipped with hopeful eyes. "My lord, when will you go to punish this arrogant new god?"

"Yes, that's right... well... it's definitely necessary..."

Kainas looked around and said, "But then again... let's wait until they've finished fighting before we talk about it."

Chapter 544 It's time to launch a great expedition.

The source of this information is unknown.

Humans, creatures of minnow rank, have finally found their own god. As the weakest race, they have obtained the most special divine essence and are now seeking revenge against the entire world.

This deity possesses extremely powerful authority and is a heretic who emerged from the Spirit Corridor; his power is even sufficient to end this great war!

The evidence is that his birth alarmed the indifferent God of War Arteshu, whose existence threatened the "Strongest," prompting him to personally defeat the God of Humanity.

This naturally raises many questions, because although Arteshu is the God of War, he cannot be said to be particularly belligerent.

Or to be more precise, there was no one he was willing to take action against. His Headhunter Tribe always acted independently and never received orders from the God of War himself to fight.

The last opponent that ignited Arteshu's fighting spirit was the leader of the three great dragon kings, who possessed infinite power and was feared by even the gods, so much so that he was called "invincible"—the Final Dragon Hatilrem.

It was because of that World War I that Arteshu was recognized by the gods as an invincible being.

Why did the great war last for tens of thousands of years? Why did the gods not intervene much, but instead let their followers fight each other?

The power of the Old Deus clearly surpasses that of all other races—just like in fantasy novels, the outcome of a battle between high-level combatants is enough to decide everything.

Because the Old Deus all understand that if a great war breaks out among them, it will only pique Arteshu's interest, and in the end, that man will end it all—the outcome will be a foregone conclusion, even if they all attack together.

In a sense, the essence of this war was that the Old Deus emerged in order to avoid confronting Arteshu.

The weakest guardian of humanity challenges Arteshu, who is known as the strongest?

This sounds like a completely illogical lame joke.

But no one can simply laugh it off—

Because the [Flügel] have truly stopped hunting!

In a certain battle, they challenged an even stronger being, and their entire race was defeated by a single individual. Judging from the elven traces on the battlefield, the opponent's power was overwhelming, which ultimately led to the intervention of Arteshu.

After that, the movements of the [Flügel] could no longer be observed. Instead, their floating city, carried by the Phantasmal Beast Race, slowly moved towards the center of the continent. The speed was slow but full of majesty, and a certain aura kept accumulating, just like Lord ascending the throne.

That was a battlefield!

The ultimate battle should rightfully unfold at the center of the entire world!

All of this indicates that a god capable of rivaling Arteshu has indeed been born; otherwise, given the arrogance of the God of War, he would never have specifically chosen the best battlefield.

... Because of this news, the Forest God and the Forge God, as well as many other god-level beings, chose to restrain the races under their command and began a strategic retreat, making the once chaotic continent much quieter.

Meanwhile, the first batch of twenty-two apostles "blessed" by Iori began to travel across the continent to gather the surviving humans, bringing them out of their shelters. Centered on a certain Forest Spirit Race City that had been "friendly received," they began to accept a large number of their compatriots and establish the prototype of a nation.

The Orc Race are a race that, like humans, cannot use True Magic.

However, they are not powerless like humans. Their talents far surpass those of ordinary creatures in terms of the five senses and physical abilities. Their physical strength goes without saying, and their perception is so advanced that they can even read True Magic and detect lies.

In addition, they are a race with excellent reproduction, endurance, and newborn growth rate, so their situation is much better than that of humans... at least they are not someone that everyone wants to kick, and they can barely maintain a tribal alliance-like system.

Sniff sniff sniff sniff