Yuma quickly organized his thoughts in his head.
First, he needed to evacuate everyone in the imperial palace to the outskirts of the capital.
“Brigitte, get everyone in the palace to retreat to the outskirts of the capital. If you can push them back even further, that’d be even better.”
Brigitte looked at Yuma with her wall-eyed gaze.
“…Understood, Yuma.”
Brigitte had a lot to say, but for now, she decided to trust Yuma.
Yuma stepped out of the imperial palace.
Right behind him, Belle rushed out with her blue hair flapping in the wind.
“Yuma!”
“Just stay here for now.”
Belle slowly came to a stop.
“…So, I’m a distraction?”
Belle said softly.
Yuma pondered for a moment. He might end up frustrating Belle, but right now, it was better for her to be disappointed than to face death if things went wrong.
The strength of Barbatos, just shown through the magic scout, was transcendent, more so than any enemy he had faced.
Above Barbatos, who was descending towards the empire, floated a level.
792. That ridiculous number testified to that strength.
In response to Belle’s question, Yuma slowly nodded.
Belle stood frozen, her head hanging low.
He would comfort her after this was all over and done with.
Yuma moved forward.
“Ethan.”
He called out to the griffin, Ethan.
Swoosh!
Without hesitation, Yuma mounted Ethan.
He realized that the target Barbatos was aiming for was the Astes Imperial Palace.
If that hit without mercy, the palace would be turned to rubble.
A vast, barren land.
Due to the recent invasion of the Celestial Beings a week ago, the few structures left in the outdoor training grounds were neatly cleared away for maintenance.
Yuma took out the magic loudspeaker he had received from Eldrie and stored in his spatial pocket.
He brought the loudspeaker to his mouth.
The reason for using the loudspeaker was simple. To minimize unnecessary damage as much as possible.
‘That guy seems provokable.’
In Yuma’s judgment, Barbatos had an unexpectedly human side. Just going by what he heard from the magic scout, he seemed to have a high level of pride in martial prowess.
More than a human could ever have, even.
All he had to do was provoke him a bit and make him come down here. The outdoor training grounds were surrounded by dense mountains.
Even if chaos ensued, it was an environment where damage could be minimized.
Yuma opened his mouth.
– This way, Evil God.
– If your goal is to kill me, then come down here quietly.
– If you respect martial arts, quit the nonsense and come over here.
Pride.
Yuma felt the pride in martial prowess in the voice of Barbatos he had just heard from the scout’s footage.
I felt a sense of pride about martial arts from his voice.
And every martial arts manual in this world has a note to respect martial principles. Even those manuals that are close to martial arts with unique skills and techniques probably have the same message about respecting martial principles.
They wouldn’t be so bold as to openly practice martial arts, right?
It was a provocation using Barbatos’ words and actions, who seemed to have a fair amount of respect for the martial arts created by mortals.
And that provocation hit quite well.
A black meteor fell right in the middle of the outdoor training ground.
Squish—
Yuma looked at a man stepping out from the hazy smoke with [Search Eye].
[Lv.792] Barbatos
Race: God (神)
Divine Name: God of War and Strife
Alignment: Evil (惡)
Level: God (神)
Barbatos slowly opened his mouth.
Crack—
Tilting his head slowly.
“Are you the one who killed Incrinew?”
Barbatos began to walk slowly toward Yuma.
Yuma nodded.
“Yeah.”
Barbatos took another step.
“Hmm.”
A brutal aura radiated from Barbatos’ entire body.
Grghghghgh—
A black current flared up in the shape of flames around him.
“I don’t feel anything from that body of yours.”
Barbatos began to condense strong energy in his right hand.
He recalled what the Evil God, Malphas, had said while watching him from the Divine Realm.
– Should I say he deflects attacks? His defense mechanism is quite impressive. He also shoots out powerful attacks. At first glance, it seems like he just reverses the attack, but the power of the attacks he shoots out seems too overwhelming to be dismissed that easily. It seems to be a technique he manifested on his own.
‘Deflects attacks?’
Barbatos couldn’t easily visualize Malphas’s words.
Malphas had said the foes he summoned were weak, but…
‘That kind of summoned creature must have been able to be repelled, Malphas.’
Barbatos intended to make him pay for daring to mention martial principles.
“Since you brought up martial principles, don’t die in one shot.”
Barbatos stomped the ground.
Whoooosh—
A gust of wind surged from the tip of Barbatos’s feet.
Sublime.
It was a speed that could only be described as ignorant.
Yuma saw the end of that attack.
<Extreme Concentration—Absence (沒我)>
He read the trajectory of the attack.
Measured the distance.
Even though he was wearing both [Magic Armor] ripped from High Elf Luine and [Divine Armor] from God Incrinew’s Divine Nursery, it was better to minimize the possibility of receiving shock as much as possible.
In a flash—
<Blink>
Yuma blinked back as his new form darted backward.
Barbatos grinned, extending his arm with unwavering confidence that he would hit.
And Yuma had another conviction.
He was going to hit back.
Yuma swung Balmung towards the swirling point of purplish energy on Barbatos’s right fist, a spot he was certain was the parrying point.
Parrying.
Kiiiiiiiiiiiiing!!!!
Golden waves violently radiated outwards.
Barbatos stared blankly at his fist, which veered off its original trajectory as it shot upward.
‘What was that technique.’
The intricacies of parrying.
Barbatos didn’t even have time to comprehend it before—
Ku-gugugugugugugugu────!
“──!”
A savage energy engulfed his entire being.
‘Something is coming.’
Since the days of the primordial God of War, known as the deity of fighting, he had never felt anything like this.
Pressure.
The pressure that even a god’s mighty body could be crushed under.
It was a signal to get out of here right now.
He had never experienced such an unpleasant sensation before.
‘What the hell are you.’
Barbatos narrowed his eyes and bent his knees.
With the strength of his legs, he prepared to leap from this spot.
All of these thoughts passed in an instant.
And Absolute Counter had already been activated.
Dark energy flickered from Yuma’s shoulder.
Barbatos’s recently lunged fist was the Soul-Crushing Fist.
A punch that could shatter souls.
A technique created after reading thousands of martial arts manuals. Martial talent.
Having lived far longer than any human and undergone much more learning, Barbatos’s martial arts were bound to be flawless.
An apex unreachable by humans.
The punch was surrounded by pure divine power, amassed from hunting three gods.
Ten times the apex.
Of course, Barbatos had no idea what was coming his way.
Death.
Something vile that a god could never imagine was approaching.
Khwahr-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-rrrrrrrrg!!!!!!
Barbatos’s body was engulfed in black light.
His red eyes widened.
Sensation was fading from his toes.
It was an incomprehensible attack.
His magical power was pierced through.
Barbatos signaled his divine power to maximum. Then he expanded it all into a spiral-shaped defensive barrier.
One layer.
Two layers.
So many layers of defensive barriers were formed beside Barbatos that he couldn’t even count them.
Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzt!
And they were all crushed to pieces.
‘…!’
─Crack.
Then his body was swallowed whole by the black light.
And the body was swallowed by the black light.
The body was burning in flames. The right arm was completely consumed.
Barbatos’s red eyes flickered like flames.
Shshshsh.
Half of the body flew away.
The soul’s technique contained soul flames.
Flames that completely annihilate the targeted existence. Without the soul flames, it would have ended with just half the body being blown away. However, the soul flames created by Barbatos were now attempting to completely annihilate his own body.
Above the head of Barbatos, who stood tall on one leg.
Crackle────
A purple clock moved its minute hand.
The power of [God of Wisdom and Magic – Rockmenton].
Time Reversal.
Bam bam bam!
In an instant. The half-destroyed body of Barbatos was restored just before receiving [Absolute Counter].
The limbs were intact, in a perfect state.
Barbatos scanned his muscular and solid body with a stiff expression.
The activation condition of [Time Reversal] set by Barbatos.
Just before the loss of the body or soul occurs, [Time Reversal] activates.
Duke Yuma looked at the purple clock with his Search Eye.
Numbers were written on the clock.
1/3
One-third.
Yuma deduced.
The surroundings hadn’t changed. That is, a time reversal that only applies to that god, the Evil God Barbatos himself.
And that number was limited.
Barbatos stood still.
Even though his powerful body was restored without a scratch, he had no intention of immediately charging at that guy.
“What the hell are you?”
He could only utter doubts.
That guy dared to plant the seed of fear in a god and stood tall with his head held high before him.
“What exactly was that attack you just threw?”
Yuma slowly moved his steps.
Thud.
He needed to provoke.
He had to reduce the number of times Barbatos had activated his ability as quickly as possible.
It was a moment to show off.
“Martial (武).”
“Martial… you say?”
The Black-Haired, Red-Eyed Man, Barbatos, slowly shook his head.
“That kind of attack doesn’t fall under what I define as martial.”
Yuma tilted his head.
“Perhaps you haven’t mastered martial arts enough.”
Barbatos had no choice but to respond to that obvious provocation.
Barbatos’s ego. Above that ego, there was existence on the path of martial that was higher than a god.
Barbatos twisted his face like a demon.
“Divine Domain Declaration (神域宣布).”
