D.I.O

“My luck stat is…?”

There, it was written…

/Luck: 1,000 (???)/

***

Clang! Bang!

“Ugh, each step is so heavy… Gear Number Three!”

Youngmin threw away the black sword in his hand, which he had used to deflect the rain of bullets that poured down on the Masters, and switched his weapon to a greatsword that shone with golden light.

[Impediments.]

“Ack! I’m so scared… so scared!”

While making a sarcastic fuss, Youngmin fiercely stared at the opponent in front of him. He felt as if his whole body was light enough to fly away, and his mind was so clear that it was almost like everything had become transparent.

That rolling momentum was transferred to his greatsword’s blade.

‘Oh, my goodness.’

Youngmin was well above his best condition. Normally, it would have been hard for him to deflect even one magic bullet, but he was currently able to clearly see the trajectory of all the enemy’s attacks as if he were viewing someone drawing the lines and curves in real-time. On top of that, his natural killing intent as a Celestial Killer was brought out; it was as if a disobedient child had been given a chance to run amok.

He parried, avoided, and cut down every attack that came his way. Considering that Youngmin’s opponent was a transcendent, this sort of feat should have been absolutely impossible.

‘It’s like an extended moment of enlightenment.’

Youngmin had experienced such moments before. They happened when he was completely exhausted and on the verge of fainting from having swung his sword for days on end, when he faced a mighty enemy, or when he faced a desperate crisis where he could be decapitated with one false move…

Whenever he reached such a moment, he would experience a burst of tremendous growth all at once. Youngmin was relatively young, but he had been given the title of a Sword Demon precisely because he had surpassed those critical moments many times in the past.

Those critical moments weren’t tests that could be overcome through effort alone. Inspiration and enlightenment were fickle guests. Those who possessed inspiration and enlightenment could be prepared and ready, but being prepared and ready didn’t necessarily mean that inspiration and enlightenment could be acquired.

‘If this sort of thing is quantified as luck…’

With this line of thought, Youngmin realized he was experiencing a fortuitous opportunity of a lifetime!

No, even the word ‘lifetime’ wasn’t enough to properly explain just how rare this sort of occasion and opportunity was. This ridiculous amount of luck was at a level that very few beings had ever experienced in their lives.

“Hahaha! Hahaha!”

His innate qi energy combined with the internal energy he accumulated throughout his lifetime to create black flames all around his body and on his weapon.

Slash!

The armor on Alexander’s upper arm, which Alexander had been using as its leading body part when attacking, was slashed off. Youngmin’s sword attack, which had been upgraded to its best version in an instant, destroyed even a transcendent’s armor despite it having the protection of the transcendent’s enormous spiritual power.

[Eliminate.]

However, after delivering such a mighty blow, Youngmin was defenseless and vulnerable to Alexander’s subsequent attack. Even if Youngmin were able to momentarily display peak fighting power, his opponent was still a transcendent—a more powerful being.

“It’s good to take the initiative and strike first, but don’t get too excited! You might suffer a counter!”

The one who saved Youngmin from this precarious situation was Miho, who transformed Youngmin into foxfire for an instant to reel him toward her.

Youngmin smiled as he quickly turned back into a human. “Hahaha! Thank you, Ms. Nine-Tailed Fox!”

“Nine-Tailed Fox… Eh, whatever.”

“Well, that is what you are, right? Hahaha!”

The temperament of Youngmin, who smiled cheerfully, was completely different from his usual calm demeanor. Surrounded by black flames that burned and flamed up like fire, Youngmin exuded an extremely desolate atmosphere. With the addition of his beautiful looks, Youngmin appeared indescribably bewitching.

“You’re in a bit of a strange state.”

“Hahaha! This is my original energy and aura. Ah, today is very refreshing indeed! Hahaha!”

“… You’re acting like a psychopath.”

After grumbling some complaints, Miho’s eyes started to shine like jewels. Her Magic Eyes normally didn’t work against the Legion forces, who were originally mechanical lifeforms and impervious to magic power. Yet, the power of her jeweled magic eyes had now reached the ultimate level, so they had a direct effect on the material world. This allowed Miho to run mental interference on Alexander.

‘I don’t understand.’

It was a fierce battle, but even so, Miho’s mind was in a complicated state. She had gained her ninth tail, but the feeling she felt was closer to puzzlement than joy.

‘Why did she give up her powers so easily? Because she’s Ms. Heavenly Flower? No, that being was the true Heavenly Flower, the Witch of Desolate Nation…’

Miho felt that she had met the true Witch of Desolate Nation; it was a reasonable guess. It made sense that the Witch of Desolate Nation would have signed on as a slave contractor, and since Miho recalled memories of the Witch of Desolate Nation, the image she’d seen during the meeting matched the image of the previous Witch of Desolate Nation.

However, Miho couldn’t help but feel suspicious. The being she’d met was too small and weak to be the true Nine-Tailed Fox.

Above all, Miho knew that her own memory was imperfect and untrustworthy. Why did the memories of her previous life as the Witch of Desolate Nation begin at the point after she had slaughtered the heroes of the martial world? What happened to her memories before that time? Why did Miho only recall the memory of the bloody altar?

‘The ninth…’

The truth was simple.

It was because that had been when Miho was born.

‘The ninth tail…’

The real Heavenly Flower, the Witch of Desolate Nation, wasn’t Miho but Ms. Heavenly Flower—the Eight-Tailed Fox that Miho had met in DIO. Miho was just a temporary personality and identity created after Heavenly Flower’s ninth tail fell off.

However, it was Miho who ultimately became a full-fledged Nine-Tailed Fox, not the original Heavenly Flower.

‘And that’s why it’s so hard to understand.’

Miho couldn’t understand how such an evil, sinister, and cruel being like the Witch of Desolate Nation could give up everything, seemingly on a whim, and offer her power to Miho.

Bang!!

“Shoot!”

When her mind started wandering, her hands started fumbling over themselves. Of course, she was in a state of [correction], but even so, those corrections had limitations.

Gaia’s Blessing was the power of fate, which maximized the [possibilities] of the subject receiving the blessing. However, even though the blessing was given by a Planet God, the blessing couldn’t offer very much in terms of power to a being that had already reached the transcendent realm. In other words, Arc and Miho had already maximized the benefit of the blessing as it had pushed them across the threshold of transcendence.

In truth, Miho had benefited the most among everyone who received the blessing. As the personification of Heavenly Flower’s ninth tail, Miho was a secondary personality, but she was able to fully acquire Heavenly Flower’s power. Even though Miho herself was only a six-tailed fox, there was still the extremely rare [possibility] that Heavenly Flower, who had no future anyway, would give herself up to protect her soul. In other words, Gaia’s Blessing had increased the likelihood of Heavenly Flower giving up everything so that Miho, a part of her, could receive her powers and live on.

The parties that received the blessing weren’t the ones who most accurately grasped the blessing’s powers though.

[Gaia, in the end, you intervened. To apply the fate of a hero to such a wide range of subjects…] Tan commented.

- Oh, they’re coming back with a roar. How exciting and interesting.

The Beast of the Apocalypse, whose existence seemed to want to crush the whole world, and the Sun God, who was emitting a huge wave of heat that seemed to burn up the sky, stopped fighting each other and looked down at the ground.

The Grotesque’s top slayer, Sadness, was being pushed back by the combination of Arc and Merlin. Although Merlin was unable to demonstrate a level of combat power equal to that of Sadness, the situation changed completely once Arc entered transcendence and gained her powers.

Arc was a magic power user but possessed strong durability as a fighter and had a fighting style commonly referred to by DIO users as a [Tank Mage]. So, when she took the initiative to head the frontline, Merlin was able to focus on unleashing powerfully amplified Irrational Hand Strikes and sniping attacks with much more composure from the rear.

Meanwhile, Alexander, a Named Legion, lost one arm to the combined attacks of Miho, who was wielding a considerably powerful monster qi as a Nine-Tailed Fox, and Youngmin, who wielded his black flames.

The pirates of Basara, like Alexander and Sadness, found themselves in a similarly precarious situation.

“Shit! They keep resurrecting!”

“Also, why are these guys getting stronger!?”

The Masters [evolved] at every moment. Those who had been given the maximum heroic fate through Gaia’s Blessing were now exploding [all] of their potential on the battlefield. In terms of individual power, the three factions were still superior, but they couldn’t find a way to combat a collective force that was getting stronger with every passing second.

‘Not good.’

Tan’s eyes narrowed. The tides of battle were flowing against him. If the Masters were to win, Merlin would be able to support and recharge Apollo again, and that would, in turn, eventually spell the end for Tan.

‘What if I retreat?’

This thought quickly flashed through Tan’s mind, but…

Throb!

Then he felt a sharp pain that stemmed from his heart and spread throughout his body.

‘Arthur.’

Ascalon, a Transcendental Weapon that was created specifically to kill dragons, was serving as a tremendous deterrence. The stronger this deterrence became, the stronger the feelings of inferiority and hatred burned in the depths of Leviathan’s heart.

[This won’t do.]

- Hmm? Hey, it seems you’re misunderstanding something…

[It is you who is mistaken.]

At that moment, Leviathan opened his mouth, which was so large that it seemed like it could swallow a mid-sized city, and sucked in a huge amount of turbid air.

It was a huge display of force that was on a completely different level from anything Tan had shown previously!

- You’re out of your mind! Using [Absolute Authority] without permission from the Creator? Aren’t you a part of the universe’s law?

[What? Wasn’t this what you guys did all the time when you were alive?]

- Ah!

Taken aback, Apollo laughed lightly before turning himself into a single ray of light. Then when that terrifying ray of light hit Leviathan’s head before Leviathan could spit out the huge energy that it collected in its mouth…

Flash!

Leviathan’s head burned fiercely. However, the air currents that had been gathered in Leviathan’s mouth didn’t dissipate.

[… It is because they are trying to forget that the heavens existed from ancient times and that the earth came out of water and was formed by water in accordance with the word of God. Because of this, the world at that time was destroyed by overflowing water…] Tan muttered.

- Oh, shit! You’re mad! You’re using your power to recreate the great flood!?

[Stop now! This is not the end of days! According to the laws bestowed upon me as the Planet God—!] the penguin exclaimed.

[Don’t do anything stupid, Gaia. Even if I flood this place, nothing will happen to your precious human civilization on Earth, right?] Tan responded.

[That…]

When the penguin, Gaia, hesitated and panicked, Apollo awakened and mustered all the energy within him.

- I lay an order upon you! Brilliant Light!

After his mighty cry, the sun rose in the gray sky, and Tan sent his incomplete power toward that sun. The sun represented Apollo’s absolute power, Brilliant Light.

Whoosh!

The two powers canceled each other out and disappeared as if nothing had happened. Tan’s power of floods was a higher power than Apollo’s Brilliant Light, but Tan had utilized his power before it was completed.

Even so, Apollo frowned. His aim was to nullify Tan’s attack. Apollo had achieved just that, but he knew that there was no way that Tan’s power could have been neutralized so easily.

- Huh, what’s going on…? Wait… y-you?

[You were always such a stupid being.]

- You tricked me!! You tricked me, you damn Beast of the Apocalypse!!!

The whole world shook as Apollo displayed his anger and rage.

At the same time…

Rumble!

Black lightning struck down and split open a part of the space, revealing a naked woman under the bolt of lightning. She was a slender beauty standing at about one hundred and seventy centimeters tall, with pink skin and shiny blonde hair.

The woman was smiling brightly.

Whoosh!

A wormhole opened, and a round metal ball popped out from it. With a diameter of about one meter, it was an item made from ordinary modern household items… but at this moment, the power contained within it was truly beyond one’s imagination.

Tap.

Lastly, a man wearing a beret and military uniform appeared. He looked down at his body for a moment and then at Leviathan with a puzzled expression.

“Thank you, but… why is he like that? Is it someone who hated you during his previous lifetime?”

“Captain? Captain, how did you get here?”

The faces of the Masters, who had been excitedly driving the enemy factions into a corner, soon turned sour after seeing the newly arrived enemy forces.

“Wait a minute… They can just come at will now?”

“That, that… Isn’t that Happiness? The most famous among the Grotesque’s Slayers…”

“This is crazy… Three more transcendents?”

Like the Masters, the Planet Gods—the penguin and the girl—were at a loss for words.

“Why… why has it become like this?” the girl said aloud.

[This is insanity. You’re ‘consuming’ your life in a place like this?] the penguin commented to Tan in a flabbergasted tone.

If a rat were to enter a person’s house and take away their precious ring, it was, of course, a normal reaction for them to try anything in their power to get it back. It wouldn’t be strange if that person tried to exterminate the rats out of anger if he or she couldn’t get his or her ring back.

However… would anyone sacrifice themselves, like in a suicide terrorist attack where one would wrap bombs all over one’s body, just to kill those rats?

This wasn’t a normal response.

“I would have never imagined that he’d go to such lengths… and use his authority to forcibly raise the level of civilization…”

The girl groaned when she saw Leviathan, who couldn’t even control his own massive body, collapse onto the ground with a thump, and Apollo, who had consumed all of his energy, dissipate into the air.

After that…

“Now then! Shall we start over in earnest?”

Accompanying that pleasant voice, a whirlwind of strong qi struck Merlin’s party.