Volume 5 Chapter 0115 Suppressing the Gods - I, The Dragon Overlord

No one truly understood the meaning behind Louie's divine words, and even the gods were left in peculiar curiosity. It is known that only when the true forms of gods engage can there be a decisive victor in a divine war. If it's merely their avatars, then even death is inconsequential. Moreover, the presence of gods within this "Pantheon" isn't even of avatar level; at best, they're manifestations of divinity. For the Dragon God to act in the "Pantheon" is to invite enmity with the Earth Goddess, making them mortal enemies, yet it couldn't truly harm the Earth Goddess. The Earth Goddess has already reached a divine rank of 20, and this Dragon God's provocation seems utterly irrational. Furthermore, acting within the highest sanctum of the gods is akin to directly affronting all deities present. Even the "Prince of Lies," in his most manic moments, merely blustered within the "Pantheon" and dared not take real action! However, upon witnessing the stone tablet in Louie's hand, a vague and unknown fear began to seep into the gods. They had meticulously inspected this tablet before, noting no particular power apart from being indestructible due to divine blessings. It seemingly had no other function. Yet now, with the Dragon God brazenly wielding it, one might wonder if the stone tablet possesses some unseen ability even gods failed to detect—an ability potent enough to challenge mighty divine powers. Appalled and infuriated was the Earth Goddess; she had never accounted for Louie's audacity. Not only did he dare to act within the "Pantheon," but he also dared to challenge her, a god on the brink of ascending the peaks of divine power! Shantia, usually among the more amiable deities due to the nature of her divine domain, found herself at odds with Louie. Despite her usual mild manner, she couldn't suppress her indignation at Louie's blatant disrespect, and without hesitation, began mustering her divine power to confront him. But as soon as this thought arose, her expression shifted from shock to terror. At that instant, every god felt the descent of an unfamiliar and irresistible force, one that invoked dread and horror. It was as if a hand manipulating the fates of the gods had closed around their throats. "Rumble, rumble, rumble—" The Pantheon began to tremble, akin to a colossal earthquake. Above, the celestial dome filled with stars vibrated in resonance, and the star representing the Earth Goddess flickered, trembling on the brink of collapse. "What have you done to me?!" The piercing screech of the Earth Goddess echoed throughout the Pantheon. Even from her voice, the gods discerned sheer terror. "Thy star shall fall from the firmament!" Louie extended a finger toward the Earth Goddess Shantia. What followed shocked the gods to their core—the star at the zenith dimmed and then fell, returning to a position equal to other powerful divine stars. The fall of a star signified a demotion in a true god's divine rank! "Ah—" A harrowing scream tore from Shantia, her primal essence, all avatars, and even her divine representation were overwhelmed by a soul-piercing agony. Being one of the most ancient deities, she recognized the pain as a fragment of her divine rank shattering. "Thy seasons shall split to autumn and winter!" Louie's prophecy echoed once more in the "Pantheon." It was as if he had become a true embodiment of the "divine," every word shaped reality, his will became law! "No!!!!!! What on earth is that tablet in your hand??!!!" With all the gods watching, the Earth Goddess's unified "Seasons" domain split once more into four—into spring, summer, autumn, and winter. Aside from "Spring," which originally belonged to the Earth Goddess, the other three fragments floated back to their original owners, revealing the gods with whom Shantia had traded. Having lost crucial domains, two of these gods weakened from lesser to meager divine power. Their hearts raced with the return of their domains, yet none dared act, paralyzed and bewildered by this turn of events. With merely two divine utterances, the Dragon God had regressed the Earth Goddess from a divine rank 20 to her former state of rank 19, redistributing her once-consolidated Seasons domain. Such might and impossibility! It resembled the reverse of time, though the gods knew it had nothing to do with actual temporal reversal, as gods are immune to the effects of time! Amid the gods' profound astonishment, Louie's immense voice echoed again, "…Thy form shall be tainted by the Astral." This time, Louie's divine word applied to all present gods, not just Shantia. With his decree, the Destiny Tablet in Louie's hand radiated with extreme luminosity. The Astral Plane descended—the metaphysical realm of San Soliel's thought, boundless and vast. This realm acts as the graveyard of gods—the final resting place for every fallen deity. Yet now, its pollution befell the Pantheon, beginning to constrain and bind the gods. All deities were horrified to discover their current "avatars" lost contact with their true forms. It signified the loss of their greatest advantage—their immortal avatars. Even more terrifying was the severance from their believers; the channel of faith seemed eroded under the Astral’s influence, leaving them bereft of divine sustenance! Though gods retained their divine power, it was merely a finite reserve, doomed to depletion without the renewal provided by faith, leaving them akin to water bereft of its source. Amidst the disarray, whether lesser or greater powers, even Louie's allies, were riveted, watching him with trepidation. Louie's face was stoic and cold. Inwardly, he murmured apologies to divine peers like the Silvermoon Goddess and the Goddess of Love and Beauty. Then he donned an aloof smile, bearing down on the assembly with, "Now, I ask you, noble ones, will you submit or face extinction?" With those words, the Dragon and Slaughter domains receded from Louie, transforming his presence into one embodying the world's axis of order. The dread force crushing the Pantheon was a stark proclamation that he was, indeed, the deity with a divine rank of 20, the supreme being among them all! The gods stood in wide-eyed silence, gazing at Louie, who loomed over everything. For a moment, they all found themselves utterly speechless.