A crack resounded around the cocoon of energy, similar to cracking glass; within seconds, a familiar figure popped out; Hadro dropped down in an incomplete form, his body nothing but a mass of energy struggling to take shape.

“Die!” the hooded man said, his hand thrusting forward with killing intent.

However, as his hand struck forward, he found himself slowing down to a halt; it felt like he was stuck in tar. His efforts are all in vain no matter how much he tries.

He gritted his teeth looking at Hadro, who was still gathering his form. The man tried to move, exerting his body he hadn't before. His opponent is a god; a delay in his actions would lead to his death, and his mission would fail.

“I guess the fauna and flora of the ninth continent aren't hostile enough if one of that woman's creations manages to land here.”

Hadro spoke calmly, an undertone of anger seeping through. His incomplete form soon mended, and his ascension was interrupted; despite that, he felt more powerful than before, the system considered him as an [Incomplete Minor God]; he had a foot on the threshold of a Minor God.

“D-Damn!-”

Hadro clenched his fist, applying tremendous force over the Astator, but before he could, a spark of light pulled Hadro somewhere; it was within his Realm, a place filled with books.

Hadro's eyes glanced at a beautiful woman with softly glowing golden hair and eyes. She was smiling but Hadro could tell it wasn't genuine.

“So it was you,” he said through gritted teeth.

Jaheva soon smiled, showing her teeth. “Of course,” she scoffed. “You should've accepted my offer when you had the chance. Now that you've halfway ascended I can finally feel your insignificant presence.”

Jaheva raised her palm, and Hadro already felt her intent; he tried rejecting her out of his realm, but she stood her ground and barely moved an inch.

Jaheva just smirked; Hadro felt killing intent and dashed sideways. He couldn't even see it; her attacks toppled bookshelves and made a mess of his realm.

Hadro couldn't help but feel his blood boil; those books were knowledge his followers had accumulated for years. He snapped back to Jaheva, she intruded to his Realm back then but never came to the ninth continent.

Hadro smiled after realizing it. Jaheva entered his realm since it was the only thing she could physically reach.

“Smiling as if your situation isn't bad?” Jaheva spoke sweetly.

She raised her hand and twirled her wrist; multiple spears and lances formed made of light and were aimed directly at Hadro.

“Really?” Hadro asked incredulously.

Jaheva had a questioning look before she twitched her wrist, all weapons made of light launched at a speed incomprehensible. Jaheva's brows soon furrowed at the sight in front of her.

All weapons made of light stopped completely at a certain distance from Hadro. He waved his hand away and the weapons scattered into motes of light.

Jaheva didn't stop there, she formed a cone with a swirling dent that goes up to the bottom. She shot it with extreme speed with a spin; sadly, her efforts amounted to nothing.

“Using tools made by mortals? Really?” Hadro asked mockingly.

He soon raised his hand and closed it with force. Jaheva soon felt pressure applied to her body. It would've been easy to defend against it, but the problem came from the one using it.

Jaheva stared at Hadro who was still clenching his fist.

“You say words as if you're above mortals, yet you keep using what's theirs.” Hadro scoffed. “You truly think like a mortal.”

Jaheva was now the one looking at Hadro with gritted teeth. She soon smirked as she looked at the rows of bookshelves around her, she gathered her energy and soon blasted it outwards.

Hadro tried to contain the blast but he wasn't powerful enough to do so. The blast was strong enough that it launched rows after rows of bookshelves, destroying them to mere splinters.

In the middle of it all, Jaheva stood her ground with a vein popping out of her forehead. Hadro, who tried to defend against the attack earlier, was lying down on a bunch of destroyed bookshelves.

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“Is this attack too mortal for you?” she scoffed.

She expected Hadro to feel fear after that attack. A smile couldn't help but creep up her face, but all he did was stand up with a smirk.

“You're feeling the rejection on your skin now, isn't it?” he spoke with utter fury.

Jaheva stood in a daze for a moment before her smile dropped and it was replaced with a serious face. Right now, she is inside the realm of another God; she is completely cut off from her source of energy.

In truth, she should've been at the mercy of Hadro; she should've been able to kill him, too, in a short amount of time. After all, she is the goddess of light.

Yet… “You're so similar to him!” She yelled with nothing but anger.

“To who exactly? The god of creation?” Hadro surmised. “If so, then vanish that thought.”

Hadro raised his palm towards Jaheva, particles of light soon glowed around her but what she didn't expect was her power to turn against her.

The particles of light shoved her with power, her body crashing through multiple bookshelves. She groaned as she floated a few feet up in the air.

“You think you can afford to waste that much energy by floating?” Hadro raised his palm again.

However, before Hadro could even unleash another attack, multiple bullets made of light rained down from every direction.

It was instantaneous at the same speed of light. However, the attack was all for nought as it all stopped at a certain distance from Hadro.

“The only similarity I have from the god of creation, is I hold the same domain everything is created upon. Like your light.”

A pulse of energy from Hadro’s palm emerged; light filled the wrecked library, followed by an immense amount of force.

Where Jaheva was floating became an empty space as she was launched away, like a leaf through a storm. In the area where Hadro’s hand was pointed, several bookshelves were filled with holes similar to a hornet's nest.

His realm was now nothing but a wreckage, filled with debris and splints. Where Jaheva lay, her silhouette was distorted.

The amount of energy she used to defend against the attack was way too much for its level. Jaheva couldn't help but look at Hadro with gritted teeth.

“This isn't over…” she let herself get rejected from Hadro’s realm, vanishing with a quick flash of light.

“Tsk.”

Hadro didn't waste any time and went back to the Abyss, already worried about his children.

***

The robed man breathed heavily; despite the god being lower in rank, he still could feel the difference. It was clear, like heaven and earth.

If he, Gus, ever tried to fight Hadro he would die in mere instance. A single thought would be enough to vanquish him.

“My job is done here… “

Gus looked down, he should've felt happy, but he couldn't help but feel helpless instead. How much more should he work for the goddess? Just because she found her soul worthy?

Gus stepped back, eager to leave, but when he turned around, all he saw was the Astator from earlier.

He was staring at him with murderous intent but oddly, he was outwardly calm. It was like a brewing kettle, ready to release its steam once it was poured.

Despite only encountering the god earlier for seconds, the damage he did was significant. Gus wanted to leave so he only ought to do what he needed.

“Hey—” but before he could speak, a spear materialized before him and aimed at his head; Gus could only shove his head sideways to avoid it.

The problem with this is that he had no balance in the position he was in, the Astator he was facing was fast, faster than he could think.

Gus dashed backwards, he could already feel the strain in his body moving at light speed.

“Let's talk for a bit. Yeah?” Gus, however, doesn't show how troubled he is. Opting to smile as he was facing the astator.

The Astator lowered his spear, still staring at him. Gus thought it was his chance to speak so he did.

“That God of yours surely had your soul turned into an astator too yeah? How bout I help you become free?” Gus spoke confidently.

He knew that most Astators are made from the souls of any mortals, also latching their identity within. It is forceful; most gods use it to turn others into their minions, some would retain their free will, but they cannot deny a god's orders.

They basically become slaves, Gus is one of them. He believed killing Michael's brother, Paul, was certainly freeing him.

“I…” Mikhael opened his mouth, Gus was positive that Mikhael would accept, making things easy. “I am an Aiden.”

Before Gus could even speak, he felt a strong pull; it was powerful, undeniable. In an instant, he was in front of Mikhael. He jabbed his spear towards his heart.

Gus dodged, empowering his arms, countering Michael's attack. But before his arms, which is as fast as Gus could formulate a thought. Gus was dragged away by the same unknown force.

He was dragged upon the ground without any way to fight back. At the end of it, his left torso was sanded down and Gus was bleeding.

He breathed heavily as he stood up groggily. He gritted his teeth as he watched Mikhael from a distance.

Mikhael was just standing there staring at Gus, though once he raised his feet and stepped forward, Mikhael materialized in front of Gus.

Gus, out of instinct, raised both of his arms for a high guard when he felt a foot land on his solar plexus. He coughed as he landed back on the ground, snarling as he tried to recover from the pain.

“I am Mikhael, Hadro's son. Through me, you shall know war.”

Mikhael raised his spear as if carrying a fragile item. The spear floated up, its tip corrected itself and aimed at Gus; Gus tried to crawl away, intending to dash at the speed of light if need be.

But before he could formulate the thought, the spear was brought down upon him, like a missile that landed. It created an explosion by its speed leaving a crater in its wake.

Mikhael looked at the ground with apathy, he couldn't help but feel empty. If he only had this power earlier, could he save his brother?

The crater before him had traces of blood, and after a few seconds, a few motes of energy flowed to him. What should he even feel in this situation? Should he feel happy he became stronger?

He felt a familiar presence enter abruptly, one he knew well. As the entity came into being his connection soon lit up, reconnecting the severed tether.

Mikhael tilted his head to the side to find his Father, looking at him with worry.

“F-Father I…” Mikhael's voice wavered. His body was dusty and his face was dry. Hadro looked at Mikhael and walked closer. “P-Paul he…”

“My son, it isn't your fault.”

Mikhael finally felt the emotion he was holding back soar through, he felt his eyes moisten. Hadro held his son in an embrace, placing a hand over his head.

“Why… Why would they do this? What have we done so wrong?” Mikhael asked between sobs. He held onto Hadro shaking.

Hadro couldn't help but caress Mikhael's head as he hid his eyes over his shoulder. He felt his children, around him, Agni and everyone else.

He knew Mikhael did the best in his situation, the fight didn't even last half a minute. It was so fast that the others could barely respond, let alone react.

Right now, thanks to Paul's death, Mikhael has his own Skill. Something that most of the time is created with time but today was forced out of necessity.

“Rest, Mikhael. We have work to do.” Hadro patted his head one last time before letting go.

Naturally, Hadro was angry. He has expected foul play from the other gods, but only in the form of harm from the material world, not in the abyss.

But now he learned they would go so far, he had to do something about it. Naturally, making Aidens would shave off something from himself.

But once Paul died his essence got absorbed by Mikhael, it helped him actualize his skill. But what if it was absorbed by the Astator? What then?

Hadro is incomplete, all the soul points he invested are gone, scattered around as he was forcefully pulled to his realm.

“Dammit!”

He chose to ascend at this time due to the time frame he had. Within a century, surely the people from the other continents would be able to find a way to traverse the ninth continent.

By then he could guide the Council of Eldoria better as he already fully ascended. But now, he was pulled out of it, he didn't know exactly how long the ascension is but that's not what he is wary of.

They could come in again and sabotage his ascension. What then? Hadro had to work better on his defenses, it wouldn't do good to make Mikhael his sole soldier protecting the whole settlement.

For now, he had to make allies.