Omnipotence.

To break apart a soul, annihilate it, and then reconstruct it was a power in the realm of a god.

“T-This is impossible!”

Maugris, too, couldn’t contain his shock at the miracle that Deus had just performed.

The soul was something governed by the laws of the universe. No matter how strong a being was, a soul was not something that could simply be destroyed and reconstructed at will.

“Y-You...! Have you obtained the power of a god?!” Maugris cried out, unable to hide his shock.

The god he was referring to was not simply a demigod. He meant a true god, one capable of creating or destroying an entire world.

Being able to manipulate the creation and destruction of a soul was no different than being in the same realm as the Creator, or perhaps even higher.

Across the vast universe, theologians widely agreed that the one true god was the Creator who had created the world, yet what Deus had done just now was no different than the act of creation itself.

Maugris was understandably mortified.

“I told you, didn’t I? That I would obtain the power of invincibility,” Deus said with a smirk.

“N-No... This is impossible...” Maugris muttered, still in shock.

“I kept my word,” Deus said. Then, he shrugged and added, “Well, I never had the chance to show it off. I was so immersed in training that I ended up forgetting the passage of time.”

“This is absurd...”

“There was even a time when I considered going back into the past myself and crushing all of you.”

“...!”

“But doing that would create yet another parallel world, wouldn’t it? And then there would be the problem of fixing the law of causality, which would be such a hassle. So, I thought... What if I just raise a disciple and have him crush all of your descendants instead? But who could’ve guessed that you would still be alive?”

“...”

“But I do admit it’s quite disappointing to see that you’re nothing but a lingering wraith. A parasite drifting around taking over others' bodies,” Deus said with a chuckle, as if amused. Then, he sneered, “It must’ve been hard hopping from one body to another for so long.”

“Impossible... A mere human wielding the power of god can't be possible...”

Maugris was clearly shaken to his core. He had once been the pope of the clergy that served the one true god, the Creator, since the dawn of creation. He worshiped the Creator alone and believed that no one else could compare to Him.

Hence, he was stupefied to see a mere human display the same powers as the Creator.

Yet what was even more shocking was that this mere human was someone he once knew, someone he had dismissed back then.

“A mere human, you say? Do you think the Creator you worship is any different?” Deus mocked.

“B-Blasphemy!”

“Tsk... This is why you extremists are dangerous. Having faith is fine since it’s a personal choice and all that, but having it in excess is where it becomes pathetic.”

“Y-You...!”

“Honestly, I really don’t like that so-called Creator you worship.”

“How dare you! Even if you have obtained divine powers, insulting the Creator is—”

“Don’t test me, Maugris. I’ll flip this whole world upside down if you piss me off. Do you want me to kill that Creator of yours right in front of your eyes?”

“...!”

“I’m going to drag that Creator out and kill him right where you stand, so you better watch it. Don’t run your mouth in front of me ever again unless you’re testing me.”

Deus spoke with the same tone and attitude he had in his youth as he threatened to kill the Creator.

“I would do whatever I want if this were a world I created, but... Tsk...” he grumbled, clicking his tongue.

“It’s because of the laws of the universe, isn’t it?” Maugris growled.

“Hm? Did you say something?”

“You can’t interfere with the affairs of this world because of the law. Because this isn’t a world you created.”

“Oh? So you do have a brain after all. I thought you were just a dumb fool.”

“I see... If that’s the case, then...” Maugris muttered.

“Anyway, I’ll leave you guys to it. I’ve got my circumstances, so I can only watch from the sidelines. Well, at least I got to vent my anger, so I’m satisfied with that,” Deus said as he turned away. Then, he paused and added, “Oh, and one more thing. I don’t really care what you do, but don’t you dare insult me ever again.

"If you talk shit about me again, then I’m going to destroy everything. The laws of the universe or causality be damned.”

“...”

“Well then. Good luck.”

That was the end of it.

Deus turned his back on Maugris, and his form shifted as he transformed to his usual appearance of an elderly man with a white beard.

“My disciple,” Deus called out.

“Yes, Master,” Siegfried replied with a bow.

“I have already turned my back on the world. The universe forbids me from helping you.”

“I understand, Master.”

Siegfried understood what Deus was trying to say. While he had no idea how the laws of causality worked, he knew that it was not something that even Deus could go against.

After all, Deus would not simply sit on the sidelines and watch if he could help.

The Enlightened King, Maugris, was the Executor of Destiny meant to bring about the descent of the Creator. He was an existence created by the very laws of this world, so Deus couldn’t kill him without going against the laws of causality.

In other words, killing someone as important as Maugris was far different from killing the Chromatic Dragon.

‘I will handle it.’

With that resolve, Siegfried stepped toward Maugris. He wanted to show Deus that he could defeat the Enlightened King with his own strength. In addition, he had to defeat Maugris in order to complete the quest, Master’s Regret, which would, without a doubt, bring great joy to his master.

***

Siegfried looked back at his comrades and said, “Listen up, everyone. Split up and search for anything that resembles a relic or altar. Destroy anything that looks like one while I deal with that bastard.”

He was wary of Maugris’ abilities, so he sent his comrades as far away from the battle as possible. Based on what he had gathered so far, Maugris was a spiritual entity with no physical body—a spiritual parasite.

Without possessing a body of his own, he had been surviving by possessing intelligent lifeforms, stealing their bodies, and using them as if they were his own.

He was also extremely adept at switching from one body to another, so he could keep swapping hosts. This would complicate things for Siegfried, as Maugris would toy with him by jumping from one host to another.

Thus, Siegfried sent his comrades away to completely prevent that from happening.

Besides, he had to defeat Maugris alone anyway, so there was no point in getting help from the others.

He aimed his Annihilation’s Grasp at Maugris and said, “Come at me, parasite.”

“What did you say?” Maugris muttered, his brow twitching.

Deus’ appearance had taken the Enlightened King by surprise. His soul being annihilated and reconstructed had completely instilled fear into him.

However, he was now up against Deus' disciple, Siegfried.

While Siegfried was Deus’ disciple and had inherited his powers, he had not inherited the power of invincibility. Thus, there was no reason for Maugris to be intimidated by Siegfried nor for him to be taunted by a mere disciple.

“You don’t seem to know your place, mortal. Even if your master has obtained the power of a god, that doesn’t make you a god,” Maugris said, striding forward.

“I never claimed to be a god, nor do I know anything about godhood. All I know is one thing, and that’s to crush you in my master’s stead,” Siegfried replied with a smirk.

Fwooooosh!

From the spot Siegfried was standing, a wave of blazing crimson flames and a sinister dark aura surged outward. The debuff auras, Karma Flare and Embrace of Despair, were activated simultaneously.

“Argh...!”

Maugris grimaced as the debuff auras weighed down on him.

Whiiiiir!

Ignoring the Enlightened King’s reaction, Siegfried spun the Annihilation’s Grasp like a drill and fired it toward Maugris.

“Know your place, mortal!” Maugris roared.

The Enlightened King shook off the debuffs and finally decided to show his true power.

In his hand was a mace emitting a faint glow. Even though Siegfried had yet to inspect the mace, he could already tell that it was powerful enough to go head-to-head with Annihilation’s Grasp.

Just as he had suspected, the mace was indeed a weapon that possessed tremendous destructive power.

While it was not a Universal-rated weapon like Annihilation’s Grasp, it was an ancient relic of the Illuminati that only the Pope could use. It had no special abilities, but its sheer brute force made it possible for it to contend against Annihilation’s Grasp.

But the mace was not the problem here.

“Do you honestly think you can defeat me? Even your master couldn’t defeat me in the past!” Maugris roared and blocked the Annihilation’s Grasp.

Siegfried immediately followed up with a flurry of attacks with the Invincible Spear Art, but Maugris blocked all of them with ease.

‘T-This guy is insane!’ Siegfried shrieked inwardly.

Maugris’ movements were on an even higher level than Lee Geon, evident by how he was capable of blocking every single attack Siegfried unleashed.

Of course, this was no surprise.

The Enlightened King was an existence who had been living from the dawn of creation until now, so he possessed immeasurably vast combat experience.

In fact, the number of battles he faced was even greater than Deus had ever faced in his entire life. He had been switching from one body to another for hundreds of thousands of years, and he fought countless battles each time.

His combat sense was beyond exceptional. In terms of combat experience, Maugris was far beyond what Siegfried could ever hope to compare.

After all, there was a saying that doing something repeatedly would make one an expert.

Maugris was an NPC as well, which meant that the artificial intelligence controlling him could bring out his full potential, making him an even more difficult opponent than Lee Geon.

Siegfried groaned inwardly while attacking. ‘Damn it...! I can see why even Master couldn’t defeat him back then.’

He could clearly see why Deus, despite his immense powers even during his prime, struggled to defeat Maugris.

Something else was bothering him.

‘What do I do? What if Carell... dies?’

Carell was the reason Siegfried was holding back.

Maugris was indeed powerful, and he truly lived up to the title of being the Executor of Destiny. He was not an opponent that Siegfried could hope to defeat while holding back; he needed to exert his full force to just match up to him.

However, he was unable to go all-out.

After all, Carell could end up dying.

Maugris was a parasite that could abandon his host if they ended up dying, but that was not the case for Carell. If a lethal attack struck Carell, then his soul would lose its vessel, possibly sending him to the afterlife.

“Damn it...” Siegfried growled under his breath. He recalled how Deus extracted Maugris from Carell’s body and destroyed his soul earlier, but there was no way he could do the same.

“Oh?” Maugris suddenly grinned, as if reading Siegfried’s thoughts. Then, he taunted, “Are you scared that your subordinate might die?”

“...”

“You fear that your subordinate would die if you kill me, is that it?”

As expected from a parasite who had been living for ages, Maugris was extremely sharp and perceptive.

The years he lived stealing bodies without getting caught had taught him how to read a person’s thoughts in a single glance.

“Foolish child,” Maugris sneered. Then, he taunted once again, “Go on. Kill me if you can.”

“...”

“I will remain still. Go ahead and cut my head off.”

Unfortunately, Siegfried couldn’t bring himself to attack Maugris, even though the latter had just put his mace down andd stretched his arms wide.

Maugris had pinpointed his weakness and exploited it.

‘Damn it...’ Siegfried bit down hard on his lip.

Having to face an opponent he could barely defeat, even if he were to go all-out, was already difficult enough, but being unable to attack properly in fear of killing his subordinate was a whole different nightmare.

He wanted to make Deus proud, but it was not something he wanted to achieve at the cost of Carell’s life.

‘There has to be a way. I need to find a way around this...’ Siegfried racked his brains desperately. However, Maugris was not so patient. He did not intend to wait for Siegfried to find a solution to his predicament.

“Hm? Are you not going to attack?” Maugris asked. Then, he shrugged and said, “Then it’s my turn.”

***

An extremely one-sided battle unfolded between Siegfried and Maugris.

Bam! Bam! Ban!

Maugris unleashed a barrage of attacks with his mace, forcing Siegfried to cower behind Annihilation’s Grasp in its umbrella form.

Siegfried would counterattack from time to time, but he couldn't land even a single hit on Maugris.

The Enlightened King was a powerful enemy that Siegfried would find difficult to defeat, but the fact that he was worried about Carell made his attacks far less threatening than they were supposed to be.

With such half-hearted attacks, it would be a miracle if he managed to even graze Maugris’ clothes.

Deus watched the battle and muttered under his breath, “The body is merely a vessel to contain the mind. It is finite while the mind is immortal. Even if the vessel is destroyed, there’s no problem as long as the consciousness lives on.”

Those words flowed directly into Siegfried’s ears like a whisper.

‘The body is merely a vessel to contain the mind. It is finite while the mind is immortal—’

‘Ah!’ Siegfried exclaimed inwardly after receiving the teachings.

As expected of Deus!

Even in such a situation, he granted guidance to his beloved disciple.

‘Let’s try it out,’ Siegfried thought, understanding what he needed to do.

He gathered his focus into Annihilation’s Grasp in umbrella form and...

Shwiiiiik!

Annihilation’s Grasp split off into thousands of pieces and rained down upon Maugris.