On Hiatus: God's Personal Reasons

Chapter 117: Qualifications to Serve God

-Kieeek!

Like a swarm of serpents, the thorny vines tightly wrapped around the red dragon of the dagger qi. The red dragon, the Heaven Earth Humanity Harmony formation of the Three Pure Ones, had fallen.

No ordinary incarnation was capable of such a feat. Well, it was to be expected, as Night Rose was an incarnation of the Silently Crawling Nightmare.

[Silently Crawling Nightmare blushes, shyly asking if you have fallen for her.]

Inwardly, I gave her a contemptuous look. “Shut up.”

[Silently Crawling Nightmare gasps quietly, saying that she’s into bad boys.]

...Let’s ignore the pervert.

Then, I glared at the Evil Subduing Palm that Fist Martial had unleashed upon me.

Baaam!

A gigantic palm, spanning dozens of meters, was about to squash me like a bug. It was certainly an overwhelming sight, but that was it.

“Demon Lord’s Heaven-Splitting Fist.”

I unleashed a technique from Demon Lord on it. A dazzling golden light and darkness of the deepest nights clashed. Compared to the great Evil Subduing Palm, my Heaven-Splitting Fist was barely a hundredth of its size.

Crash!

Then, the golden radiance pierced through the jet-blackness. My Heaven-Splitting Fist spun sharply like an awl, breaking through the Evil Subduing Palm.

-Huh?! Why are you using my palm technique like that?!

Demon Lord was appalled.

“Why not?”

-N-no! You did extremely well! But I never taught you to use your Qi like that?! How on earth did you pull it off?

“Yes.”[1]

Just as its name suggested, the technique broke through ceilings. However, unless facing a large number of enemies, it was better to focus that power on a single point—which was exactly what I did.

-Kehaha! You punk! You’re a natural-born genius!

Demon Lord let out a maniacal laughter, but I didn’t pay him any heed. Why was it such a big surprise? I was a god, a being that possessed overwhelming powers beyond human understanding.

“Ah, considering that idiot’s capabilities, of course it’s a surprise.”

By intercepting Dagger Martial’s dagger qi and breaking Fist Martial’s palm technique, I’d broken their Heaven Earth Humanity Harmony formation.

“Kaaargh! You bastard! No matter how strong you are, you’ll never be able to break through my sword formation!”

Sword Martial roared in fury, unleashing his full strength.

Slash slash!

Sword Martial’s Emperor’s Invincible Sword.

A torrential rain, made of thousands of sword qis, poured down upon me.

-How are you going to avoid this one?

Demon Lord asked expectantly.

“Well, I won’t.”

What should I do if I don't want to deal with a downpour?

“Skill Sharing, Sung Mi-Ri.”

I just had to outrun it. Sung Mi-Ri might not be like my other SS-rank followers, but her potential was still one of the top three among all my followers. Moreover, as a god, I was capable of unlocking her full potential.

“Thunder Body.”

Tzzz!

Lightning enveloped my body, turning me into a flash of light.

Flash! Baaam!

The moment his torrential sword Qi landed, ransacking the area, I had already arrived in front of Dagger Martial.

“Hicc! You!” Shocked, he quickly swung his dagger at me.

Smirk—

How slow.

Slash!

I swung Demon Lord upward, slashing him. I sliced Dagger Martial in two as if I were fileting a fish—a fitting use for the Chinese kitchen knife.

Slash!

As the two sides of his body fell to the ground, sparks flew from them. They stuck back together, as if welded back. His red, flaming face grinned in contempt.

“Heeheehee! I'm the incarnation of the red flames! Your fire won’t work on me!”

Patting the black flames off myself, I turned my back against him.

“One done.”

“Heeheehee! Are you crazy?! How dare you turn your back on me!? Die!”

Like a conniving hyena, he tried to backstab me.

“Cough!” but instead, he vomited black fireworks. “W-what’s this!”

As I unleashed Demon Lord’s Pratāpana, I added a touch of Convicting Middle Finger of God, the infernal flames that burned all evil deeds.

“Fool. You’ve been burnt.”

I had used the same technique on the apostle of the Fire Shining in the Highest Skies.

Roooar!

Then, black flames of inferno exploded from his eyes and ears. Soon, he was covered in them, burning him alive with the extreme heat.

“Kieeeek! Wait! S-save me...! Kueeegh!” he tried to scream, but the huge black flames covered his mouth.

“D-Dagger Martial!”

“N-nooo!”

The remaining two screamed, trying to help their comrade, but...

Booom!

Dagger Martial exploded, bits and pieces of his body raining down with the red sparks like snow.

“Kuku. What a grand ending, unbefitting of such trash.”

Ding!

[Congratulations, God Yu Il-Shin. The Corrupted Dagger God you slain was once a High-tier God, a high-ranking sacrifice equivalent to 20 S-rank beings.]

-----

[Quest: Mid-tier Malevolent God Promotion (In Progress)]

Sacrifices of S-rank or higher intelligent beings with potential for transcendence: 58(↑20)/100

-----

Roooar!

The divine power that Dagger Martial had so painstakingly amassed was absorbed by me! Was there anything more satisfying than this?! An exhilarating thrill engulfed me.

“Bastard! How could you?! You killed our brother, who has been with us for eons!”

“What audacity! You’re a young god who hasn’t even lived past a hundred years! I'll tear you limb from limb with my sword to grant his soul reprieve!”

Made of smoke, Sword Martial expanded a few times in size, the blue flames surrounding him erupting like a volcano.

As they unleashed their divine powers at me, I merely stared at them.

“Kekeke! Hahaha!”

Then, I burst out laughing. What else was I supposed to do?

To be promoted to a Mid-tier God, I’d have to accumulate either ten billion normal sacrifices, or a hundred S-rank sacrifices. Even for a mighty god like myself, it was quite a hefty task.

“Ah...”

But now, valuable and lovely offerings stood before me. Who would have guessed that the promotion would come to me so soon?

“Lucky me.” I extended my hand forward.

Flick!

Then, the weapons scattered on the ground flew to me at my command.

Sword Martial frowned. “Telekinesis? Are you flexing your skills before us martial artists?”

Through the process of elimination, I narrowed my options to two weapons.

“Hmm.”

This sword is trash, but it isn’t bad for a single use.

With dubious looks on their faces, Sword Martial and Fist Martial took their respective fighting stances.

“Are you going to use dual-wielding against our combined attacks? Something you’re unfamiliar with? How outrageous! Our formation might be missing one member, but we still have a trump card!”

“Hehe. Let me unleash the overwhelming power I had sealed up!”

“No.” I pointed Demon Lord to the side. “Your destiny was sealed the moment one of you fell.”

I laughed at their complacency. They thought they still had the upper hand since it was currently a two vs. one situation.

“Skill Sharing, Lin XiaoMing.”

“Ahh! Aaaah! M-Mr. Yu Il-Shin is using my power!”

An annoying voice came from a distance, but I ignored it.

“Divine power, Asura Heaven-Sundering Dance.”

Tzzz! Crack!

My clothes were torn to shreds as four arms sprouted from my body, just like the legendary Asura.

“W-what?!”

“How did you obtain the power of Asura?!”

It might be my first time using this power, but it didn’t feel too shabby. With my new arms, I picked up the weapons on the ground.

“Unfortunately, I don't have much time to waste on you. Become my sacrifices already.”

With my right arms, I began executing Demon Lord’s techniques one by one.

[Demon Lord’s Heavenly Sword First Stance, Demon Lord’s Descent.]

[Demon Lord’s Heavenly Sword Second Stance, Demon Lord’s Pratāpana.]

[Demon Lord’s Heavenly Sword Third Stance, Demon Lord’s Heaven-Splitting Fist.]

With my left arms, I used my innate powers.

[Crushing Forefinger of God.]

[Convicting Middle Finger of God.]

[Proliferating Thumb of God.]

Once a human, but had surpassed a martial artist, Demon Lord’s techniques and my Malevolent God powers swallowed the astonished Sword Martial and Fist Martial like a tsunami. These trash thought they had me outnumbered. Unfortunately, I was far superior in both numbers and power. Nôv(el)B\\jnn

“Aaaargh!”

Baaam!

Along with their pitiful screams, both the sword and fist shattered.

Ding!

[Congratulations, God Yu Il-Shin. The Corrupted Sword God and Corrupted Fist God you slain were once High-tier Gods, high-ranking sacrifices each equivalent to 20 S-rank beings.]

[Fanatic Lin XiaoMing offers 2 S-rank sacrifices to you.]

-----

[Quest: Mid-tier Malevolent God Promotion (In Progress)]

Sacrifices of S-rank or higher intelligent beings with potential for transcendence: 100(↑42)/100

[You have completed the Mid-tier Malevolent God Quest.]

-----

[Congratulations. God Yu Il-Shin has been promoted to a Mid-tier Malevolent God.]

***

Trudge trudge—

I raced up the stairs, grinning the whole time. I could feel power surging through my entire body. My destination was the thrones of the Three Pure Ones. I reached for the two out of the three thrones.

Psss—

Both thrones crumbled like sandcastles, leaving only one remaining, as it should be. After all, I was the only one worthy of it. I arrogantly took a seat and looked down on the remnants of the Three Martial Associations lying on the ground. There were roughly two thousand of them, and they all wore expressions of abject despair and terror. No wonder, as they had just witnessed their revered gods die at my hands.

I raised both my index and middle fingers.

“I’ll give you two choices. Either serve me as your god, or die.”

“Shut up, you bastard! You’re the enemy of our organization! Dying would be better than serving you!”

“That’s right! I refuse to share the same air as you!”

As always, there were those who couldn’t fathom simple language.

I smirked, waving my index finger. “Crushing Forefinger of God.”

Crack crack!

“Aaargh!”

“Hicc!”

Screams of terrors erupted from all directions. A single flick of my finger was enough to crush those martial arts masters like insects.

“Okay, then die.”

As I waved my index finger downward, I activated my upgraded divine power. The bodies of two thousand or so masters looked as if they were getting crushed by a hydraulic press.

Crack crack!

“Aaargh! S-save me!”

“I’ll serve you, O’ Almighty God!”

Their terrified, desperate screams were music to my ears. Just as I was about to kill all of them...

[Infinite Abundance begs you to show mercy.]

I smirked. “Abundance, I’ll gladly show mercy if that’s what you want.”

I released my innate power, which was crushing them.

Ding!

[Congratulations. You have succeeded in nurturing fanatical faith by displaying the overwhelming majesty and terror of a god!]

As soon as I showed mercy, I received Faith from these masters, though they weren’t worth much.

[Infinite Abundance is grateful for your mercy.]

“You’re welcome. But Abundance, don’t you think there are still too many of them?”

[Infinite Abundance wonders what you meant by that.]

“It’s simple. They need to be qualified to serve me.”

Indeed. What value was there in a follower serving multiple gods?

“Skill Sharing, Sung Mi-Na’s Power of Words.”

Only the chosen, most powerful candidates are worthy of serving me.

Thus, I spoke to them. “Your master, Yu Il-Shin, commands...”

The masters looking up at me with horror painted over their faces

"...Kill each other," I uttered before finishing the god's command, "until only one remains."

Murderous intent flooded the area in an instant.

1. This is a Korean wordplay, like how we would give an out-of-place "Yes" to a specific question. ☜