I feel the presence of something I had sorely forgotten about it in the thousand years I had trained with...
[You have 99+ notifications!]
"..."
That's right. I was still stuck in the white space that I had been entrapped in but this time I could feel the presence of the system. I start hearing a chorus of annoying dings go off in my head.
[You have gained skill - Swordsmanship!]
[You have gained skill - Martial Arts!]
[You have gained buff - Heaven's Foot!]
[You have leveled up! You have evolved as a 'God'!]
[Skill - Zen has evolved into Supreme Tier!]
[Title - Disciple of the Monkey King has been acquired!]
[Title - The Weary Master has been acquired!]
[Title - The Eden's Trump Card has been acquired!]
I can feel a headache as I hear the constant noises from the notifications. Looking at my updated status, I can't help but be surprised at the new information.
(A.N. incoming info dump skip if you want)
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Host: Reiko Nakamara
Age: 1000+
Race: God
Level: 65
Titles: [Reincarnator], [King of Demons], [Disciple of the Monkey King], [The Weary Master], [Eden's Trump Card]
Strength: 3700
Agility: 4000
Intelligence: 2000
Mana: 100000
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Skills:
Gluttony: Divine
The host will have an insatiable thirst for souls. As the host gets stronger, the easier it will be to consume the souls of stronger beings.
Zen: Supreme
The host will no longer be affected by any mental attacks. This skill will both remove present mental debuffs and neutralize future attacks.
Elemental Control: Divine
The host can wield the powers of nature itself. The four elements the host can use are lightning, fire, wind, and water.
Transformation: Divine
Host can change into his godly form at will. Due to the rank of the skill, mortals and weaker monsters can not gaze upon the host's true form without combusting on the spot.
Sense: Divine
Host can detect the presence of all weaker beings in a 200-kilometer radius. As host increases the skill rank, the host's sense radius will also increase. Some artifacts can affect the abilities of [Sense].
Regeneration: Divine
Host's blood is ichor, the blood of the gods. As a result, any damage asides from death is healed automatically. Some artifacts can block or slow the effects of divine regeneration
Martial Arts: Divine
Host has gained supreme-level knowledge in all known fighting styles and martial arts
Swordsmanship: Divine
Host has gained supreme-level knowledge in all sword styles. Host's strength will be boosted by 50% when using any edged blade.
Cooking: Master
Host can cook food tasty enough to be made in a well-established restaurant. Host's recipe absorption rate will be permanently boosted by 40%.
Hellfire: Demonic
Host can control fires that spawn from the pits of Tartarus itself.
Taming: Demonic
Host can tame monsters and demons. Success rate will be 100% for monsters weaker than the host. For stronger monsters, they will only feel 20% extra favorability for the host.
Appraisal: Divine
Host can access information on any object if the object's rank is lower than Divine.
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Debuffs and Buffs:
Nyx's Blessing:
The host has been blessed by Nyx, Goddess of Night. All stats increase by 5% in the dark.
Heaven's Foot:
Host's speed will be permanently increased by 40%.
Lifesteal:
The host has been cursed by a divine skill. Host will have its life force consumed at a rapid rate with instant effects.
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(A.N. end of status)
As I marvel over the new information and skills I've received, I can't help but frown.
'Hey system, am I really only level 65? I would think that I would be a lot higher especially after consuming all those cyclops and monsters..."
[Levels reset after evolution. After host gets to level 100, host will evolve again.]
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'I see. Ehhh. What's with that lifesteal debuff...'
[Host was inflicted with it after host challenged Hades. After Hades attached the debuff, the host was forcibly removed from the physical body before all the host's life force had been consumed.]
I shudder. I was really that close to oblivion. That would explain why I had basically left my physical body but I still didn't understand why I had been "called" by that God. Pushing that thought to the back of my mind, I ask the system if there's any way to break free of this space.
[Yes host. Currently the host is able to communicate with the system because the strength of the host has exceeded the strength of Hades's domain. At his current strength, the host can use brute force to leave the subdimension.]
Hmm. That's rather convenient. Oh yeah! There was one more notification.
'System, open the last notification.'
[Yes host. The last notification is a message. Transcribing the message. 'Hahaha so you got through that old monkey's lessons! I'm saddened that I wasn't there to see you off but I had a rather urgent issue I had to deal with at the time. I did leave you a parting gift though! Hopefully we'll see each other again soon...' End of message. Would host like to open the gift?]
'Of course. Open it.'
A long sheathed sword materializes. Even without a physical body, I can still use my mana to activate the blade. It's a dark katana that radiates a powerful aura. I'm slightly surprised, however, as my mana begins to get consumed at an alarming rate (A.N. this is basically asta's sword in Black Clover with the same anti-magic thingy). Like a hungry beast, it feasts on my divine mana until it practically radiates its own semi-divinity. Despite its slender form, I can instinctively feel it's extremely heavy. Since I'm in a spiritual form, I can't really pick it up to test its weight myself and decide to just use [Appraisal]. What I see next leaves me slightly shocked.
Shuten-dōji's Bane
Katana: Divine
Once the property of the hero Minamoto Raikō, this katana decapitated Shuten-dōji, the demon king of Japan. Thrown down from Mount Ibuki, a dying Shutden-dōji cursed the sword. The katana now has a vengeful appetite for all magic and will permanently consume a host's mana during each use.
Abilities: [Anti-magic]: Will consume any mana/magic including spells cast by both a host and enemy.
Since my mana is virtually inexhaustible, wouldn't this be perfect? I could use an extremely powerful weapon with virtually no backlash. Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I begin to think about what to do next. From what I can tell, the time spent in training was basically negated from the different time flows. However, in this subdimension time flowed normally. I could infer that since I had gotten stronger than Hades, the dimension's owner, I could now surpass any barriers he had added to prevent my escape.
I was a bit conflicted on the best course of action then decided to just infuse mana into the dimension's space itself. I concentrated all my mana onto a singular point in the dimension and I feel myself sweating. I continue exerting my nearly inexhaustible mana until I feel something audibly crack. It's not much but I'm still happy with the progress. I keep spending my mana and eventually, the crack becomes a rift. Through the rift, I can sense my physical body and I smile since I can finally get back in my body.
Through the rift, I can still feel the aura of Hades, but it's much weaker than I remembered it to be. Compared to Sun Wukong this aura is practically unnoticeable. Once again, I feel embarrassed at the thought of nearly being killed by Hades. Oh what shame I bring to you master! Taking a deep breath in anticipation of the fight, I enter the rift and find myself in the throne room once again.
I basically merge with my physical body like a ghost possession and immediately equip the sword I received. From what I can tell, virtually no time has passed. The three demon women are still standing in the same positions and the man on the throne hasn't moved a muscle. Upon seeing me stand up, the man's jaws drop open. He glances at the sword and visibly shakes. His previously calm and condescending attitude immediately becomes a flustered one.
"How the fuck did you get out of my dimension of death?! That's my strongest skill! Not even Zeus could leave as fast as you did!"
I only smile bitterly at his words. I unsheath the sword in response and get into a fighting stance. My remaining mana is still being consumed at an alarming rate, but after training for a thousand years with the sword, I feel more comfortable fighting like this. Plus, this will be a good test to see how far I've come from Sun Wukong's teachings. The god in front of me releases even more of his aura and begins to look confused as my expression remains just as cold as before. Now that I've died nearly a million times, his killing intent is barely worth mentioning. In confusion at my reaction, Hades shouts while turning to his subordinates.
"WHAT ARE YOU STANDING AROUND FOR! KILL HIM!"
The three women begin to move and transform into hideous demons. The first one lunges towards me gnashing her teeth. Her once beautiful body has grown into a lumbering monster with two twisted horns and a leathery, old face. With outstretched claws she moves impossibly fast towards my chest. As she slashes, she smiles in triumph as she pierces my skin causing golden blood to spurt like a fountain. At least that's what she sees before her head separates from the rest of her body.
I stand just a meter away from her falling corpse. The other demons are confused then realize she just slashed at my afterimage. After fighting with a monkey for a thousand years, that speed was merely child's play. For me, it was almost like watching someone move in slow motion. Shaking the blood off my sword, I immediately go on the offensive. With the Heaven's Foot blessing I begin to virtually teleport around the room. My next victim is again too slow to even see the sword that decapitates her. With another cut, another head falls to the ground in a bloody pool. The last demon is more wary but she's still too slow. She can't see me but predicts an attack from the back. Striking like a viper, she turns around and slashes at the air. She cackles as her claws make contact but immediately stops laughing when she realizes that it's yet another afterimage.
Her defense has considerably lowered from her turning and attacking with full force and speed. With a growl of hate and desperation, she looks around for any traces of my presence before she gasps in pain. My sword protrudes from her back, dripping her dark red blood on the ground. Her lifeless body thuds to its knees and I turn to look at the man on the throne. He's shocked at the speed I used to kill his best servants in such a quick fashion. I silently stare at him while removing the sword from the last demon's body and he only sneers.
"Hah. You might have killed my Furies but you realize I am an Olympian! I'll make sure to pay back the destruction you've caused a thousandfold! I'll personally oversee your torture in the Fields of Punishment."
He begins to amass dark magic and activates his Domain of Death. I use [Zen] and hold the sword out once more. I'm curious about the anti-magic properties it carries and decide this would be the perfect test. I wait as he finishes chanting his spell and magic explodes from his fingertips. He grins widely when he sees I make no attempt to block or dodge it. Instead, I hold out my sword out in front of me. I feel the sword getting even stronger and smile. It worked! The spells have basically been absorbed into my sword and wisped out. Confused, Hades looks at me then realizes I've canceled his magic.
Any semblance of his prideful disposition has devolved into pure rage. He transforms into his divine form and now looks like a skeleton shrouded in fire. Two great horns protrude from the skull and his stretched dark-red skin occasionally sparks. He now towers over me at 8 m and growls in anger. He tries to smash me with his fiery fist but I simply step out of the way. I begin running towards him and block his powerful swats with my sword. It buckles under each hit but holds out against the god. As I get closer and closer, he screams in frustration and fear.
The heat radiating from his form doesn't bother me. Compared to Tartarus, this is nothing. He puts even more pressure in his aura and it begins to slightly affect me. So this is an Olympian's full aura. How...disappointing. I spent over a thousand years preparing for this fight. I had expected a fight where one of us would be left dead and the other barely fighting onto life. A fight where we would each surpass our limits and explode in power. But this was just so one-sided. This time, the disparity was in my favor. All Hades could do before me was cower before his impeding death as I began to swing my sword.
In a singular arc, my blade swept down the towering god's body. It caught the heat of his fire and burned in a spectacular fashion as it cleanly cut the god in two. Whether the flames were so hot it cauterized the wounds instantly or if it was just too fast for the body to respond, no ichor poured from the two halves of the god. Surprisingly, Hades hadn't died instantly. His last gaze was full of immense hatred and anger as he began to disintegrate.
"Haizz. I'm not done with you yet."
Activating [Gluttony], I walked over to the god who looked at me with a frightened gaze. He clearly understood that I wouldn't be letting him die in peace and he began to let out an extremely loud wail as the vortex closed around him. He kept screaming until he was completely absorbed. The vortex closed and I felt the system's presence once more.
[Host has a confirmed kill of Hades, God of the Underworld. Host has absorbed the god's Domain and experience! Host now acquires the Domain of Death!]
I looked at my status as it jumped from level 65 to level 98. Looks like killing a god gave me a ton of experience. I tilt my head at the new domain I've acquired and ask the system about it.
'Hey, what's Domain of Death?'
[Host now has power over death. Don't worry, host is not limited to one domain and will be able to use the Domain of Hell as well. The Domain of Death focuses on the aspect of death itself. Host can now put death into the host's aura and touch which will cause instantaneous death to all beings weaker than the host. All undead type monsters will be under the host's dominion and the host can also manipulate the souls of the deceased. If in conjunction with the Life Domain, the host can control the Fates as well as life and death itself.]
'Does this mean that every god I kill, I'll get a new domain?'
[Yes host.]
Thats...a fucking cheat.