Beyond SSS-Rank After Getting The God System-Chapter 254 - 253 : A Twist Of Fate

"Well, we've all been talking and we all want in with this one. This isn't like the humans, these are demons, most have done horrible stuff and all are pretty capable, but most importantly we are worried about Razy."

Carl cocked an eyebrow at her and asked what she meant, it was then that Carl was told that Raziel suddenly announced she was joining the fight, claiming that she will win without killing.

Carl knew her power, it worked more than well enough on his aunts, but that was more chance than anything. The daughters of Lillim just happen to be similar to humans in terms of body structure and senses, but demons were a very diverse species that came in all shapes and sizes, with senses not all physical.

"I can't well stop her from joining, but I want all of you going to stick to her like crazy on Margo."

"You got it, any evacuation rules?"

"If they hurt any of you, evacuate and tell your Mum Klaire to treat them like Plutinas."

Omedra chuckled for a second, but then realised he wasn't joking. It had hit her pretty hard when Sis went into hibernation since she spent the most time with her, but seeing her dad turn to an all or nothing mindsight made her realise she underestimated his grief if anything.

She jumped on him and told him to take it easy, then pulled Alysse away, which made Carl happy to see them doing so well.

As Carl was about to turn back towards the Elder-gods receiving treatment, Amaterasu appeared at the door with a god he didn't recognise, he started to greet him as he thought they were there to see him but then he watched as they walked past him and toward Nergal.

Expecting trouble he took a step forward to break it up, but then stopped when he heard them speak. "Mother..."

He hadn't noticed anything more than Nergal talking to a goddess he didn't know who had just walked out of a life or death situation with them. Now he stopped though, he saw how tenderly he treated her, but if it was Amaterasu's mother then that meant it was the one who died fighting Susanoo.

"Amaterasu, I'm sorry but please don't call me that..." Amaterasu turned on her heel and started to retreat, but Carl stepped forward again and told her to let her mother finish. "...I lost the right to that title when I tried to kill your brother, there is no excuse for a mother bringing harm to her children, it is simply unforgivable."

Then the one Carl didn't recognise asked his sister to come and let her rest, but Carl held Amaterasu in place by the shoulder and turned her brother by his. "Which sibling are you?"

The rage in Carl's eyes was obvious, but more than that his increasingly powerful aura started to leak out and even as drained as it was, it caused damage to the structure around them.

"Relax Carl, it's Susanoo, not Tsukuyomi."

Carl stared into his eyes as his own started shifting between those of his other forms as he started to lose control. "If you were revived, he was. Where is he?"

Susanoo raised his hands in submission, then upon realising that they were ignorant of what had happened, gave Carl the details of what happened on Earth with Nergal's assistance.

Carl's fists clenched even as he got his aura under control, not because he was angry about Kitsunoko's actions, but frustrated that she proved more level headed than he was.

It was a backhanded way to pull himself together, but it made him realise how much Sis' situation had impacted his personality if Kitsunoko was more in control than he was, even though she was a free-spirit that used her heart as a guide.

"Carl, you know using your immature daughter's emotional stability as a benchmark isn't exactly a good decision right?"

"Says the aunt that made it my job to set you straight before I was born."

"Damn." The exclamation from one of the gods nearby, made the whole room start to crack up in nervous laughter, which brought the tension that had been building to their notice.

Carl then turned back to Susanoo and apologised for his lack of control, but asked him to follow him for a talk, one regarding something that had been left in his care by his brother before he was killed by Amaterasu.

The moment he mentioned it, Susanoo narrowed his eyes and quickly put the pieces together from what had been said. "So you're Ishtar's child? Yes, I know of what you speak, follow me."

Susanoo opened a portal and led him away, leading them to a realm fairly similar to Amaterasu's, but where her's featured cleared skies and sweltering heat that would have made forge-hardened Dwarves sweat, this one featured raging storms the hammered surrounding mountains to sand that lightning then melted into glass.

Carl looked around to get the rain out of his face, but whichever way he turned, the storm seemed to push against him.

Eager to get back to a more tolerable climate, he asked Susanoo where they were going, but the god just smiled and held out a hand. Lighting struck it in an instant, blinding Carl for a second, but when the light faded Susanoo was holding a book.

He then clicked his fingers and the storm cleared away, as he handed the book to Carl.

"Can I ask for any leniency on my brother's behalf as payment for ensuring this reached you?"

"Sure, I'll kill him instantly if I ever meet him."

"I guess that's more than I hoped for at least and I can hardly blame you after what he did to one you treasure. I have to ask though, we were all complicit, so why hold him solely responsible?"

Carl thought about it for a second, then laughed at how sarcastic the only true answer was. "Because I'm human, at least I still think like one. Honestly it's immoral, I know it isn't the right thing to do, but if a bad thing is my only option then that's what I'll do."

Susanoo considered the words, not necessarily agreeing with sentiment which seemed to him as using weakness as excuse, but deciding that it was no different to his persistent requests for his brother to be pardoned for unforgivable crimes out of sentimentality.

Carl began flicking through the pages as he told Susanoo not to worry too much since they would be leaving pretty soon, but then Susanoo sensed a change in Carl that worried him.

As Carl had flicked through the pages, it read like a project journal, one that framed how she modified her children in utero. Reading it made him sick, pages of frustrated ranting as she complained about Carl's resistance to their prenatal alteration, referring to him as an obstacle.

"It has been three months since they were infused with the massive amount of divinity, try as I might to make them the creations I wish to be, the obstacle has proven relentlessly obstinate.

I really don't care for stubborn problems, but I have no choice but to persist. It's infuriating, but as uncooperative as they are, their new found power will make them my masterpieces when I succeed..."

Carl tried to take the words with more than a pinch of salt, but he simply couldn't remain calm as he descended into a maddening rage.

The book fell from his hands, Susanoo stepped forward to ask what was wrong, but Carl suddenly changed into his demon-form which seemed to glow from the inside out in a way it hadn't before.

Susanoo found himself roaring in pain as two of Carl's hands clamped to either side of his head and began to crush it.

"Carl! What are you doing!? What did you read to make you hate me so!?"

The words didn't entirely land, but it was enough to make Carl realise he was lashing out at someone not responsible. He roared in with his anger, flames spewing out and burning Susanoo's face before Carl dropped him and reared back holding his face.

Susanoo again tried to get through to him, but Carl decided to flee before he went wild.

Desperate to know what caused it, he picked up the book and read the sickeningly descriptive accounts recorded within. Forced to realise he stood no chance of getting through to Carl, he left to inform his family and those who might be able to actually do something to calm him.

He returned, finding Klaire, Kyubi and Equinox conversing with Amaterasu, Nergal and Izanami, but ignorant of who the strangers were he addressed his sister. "Amaterasu! We need to let Carl's family know he needs them! He's gone mad with rage after reading this!"

He passed the book to her but kept it protected incase she heated up, but Klaire and Kyubi snatched it immediately before gasping as they read.

They too lost control of their auras and dropped the book as they demanded to be taken to him at once, but as the book hit the floor and Izanami laid eyes on it, she produced enough aura to stop them charging off.

"Wait! That is no book..." She picked it up and poured divinity into it. "...It is the spear my former-husband used to churn chaos into solid land. Carl's emotions were powerful and chaotic when you two left, he must have effected the disguise Ishtar placed on it."

Kyubi and Klaire took a heavy, sharp breath as they were hit with the emotional whiplash and listened to Izanami's explanation.

Lillim appeared when she sensed the stressed out auras and got herself up to speed, then groaned as she made a realisation none of the others had. "I'm not surprised you don't know, but Susanoo said he was growing, it's mostly unique to us demons but intense rage can make us evolve to be able to tap into more of our latent power.

If I had to guess, his demon-form has afforded him that same ability, which means we are likely going to be fighting... I'd be amazed if he recognised us in that state.

With the power Carl has waiting to be usable, we should prepare for all-out war, those strong enough not to die instantly should all come along and treat this as a dry run for the battle ahead."

Lillim wasn't being comforting, but then she snatched the spear of Izanami and called for Illerion, who immediately tried to seize it before Lillim held her at arm's length by her head. She told Illerion she could have it in trade for her daggers, catching everyone by surprise since she hadn't shown any prior interest in them.

Everyone knew better than to interfere with Lillim making a deal however, so everyone quickly turned their backs to them to begin deciding who would be going. Most of those in the room however, were still drained from the conflict with the Outer-gods.

It was an entirely unforeseen event, one which left his family and friends reeling as they asked everyone wanting to go, to follow them.

In the end, the number of those going was low, but all the Householders barring Alisha, Lydia and Blaine refused to sit and do nothing. It led to everyone asking Noah if he was really up for the task, since he didn't have anywhere near the power of the others gathered.

Noah didn't take offence, he learned a long time ago that he had to be realistic when comparing himself to his prey.

"Yeah, yeah, you guys aren't exactly wrong. I'm the weakest one in the fight and I know it, but I usually am, when I dive into other realms on an expedition so I'm used to it..."

As he was talking, a gate opened and Narcissus and Grenda stepped through, answering the call that Kyubi and Klaire had sent out. Standing quietly for a moment to let Noah finish his speech, as Narcissus nudged Grenda and gestured to him.

By the time Noah had finished, everyone that was going had assembled.

Klaire, Kyubi, Leanna, Squidge, Levi, Omedra, Alysse, Gillian, Blanc, Lillim, Equinox, Noah, Narcissus, Grenda, Amaterasu, Tenko, Suzaku, Nergal, Izanami, Illerion, Gaia, Luthwynne and finally a god who introduced himself as Janus.

Nergal seemed to acknowledge something the others didn't, but was nice enough to explain that he was a god known for assisting with transitions.

With that in mind, the others quickly realised that he might be exactly what they needed to make this particularly aggressive transition pass more smoothly, but at the same time everything was so unknown they couldn't accurately guess how any of it was going to go in the end.

They planned quickly, but most of it was just a breakdown of Carl's forms and state dependant stat estimations, which everyone was a little concerned that Alysse had on hand.

"Duh! Carl asked me years ago to make sure we had info on how to beat him in case he ever went bad."

Gillian grimaced, then whispered in her ear that Carl was being facetious when he said it. "...You know he was just making fun of you after you said "I'm sure that system of yours is gonna make an impact one day", right?"

"I did not, so I kept stats on him from that day on."

"Well, thank you, but now you're dating our daughter you can stop stalking her dad." Klaire laughed as Omy blinked dumbly trying to ignore the conversation, the same way she did whenever Alysse tried to broach the subject in private.

With the information Alysse had had however, alongside Lillim's estimation that those racial instincts he had been suppressing would be in full control, the plan was simple.

When he was in demon-form or another that used fire, Lillim, Amaterasu, Squidge and Suzaku would take the front to defend any purgatorial-flames and try to keep him pinned.

If he took on a Death-aligned form, then Nergal, Izanami, Narcissus and Grenda would take the front.

The biggest problem was his ice-forms, which only his kids and creations could safely confront since they had no idea how sensitive it would be and if he considered Klaire shooting him a betrayal it could go bad quickly.

The rest were almost certain they would be considered traitors to some degree, which was a depressing admission to have to make.

"One thing. What do we do if he uses the Horobi-star?" Amaterasu asked as they reached the finalisation stage.

Lillim and Illerion started cackling when they finally arrived in time to hear the question, which in their eyes was a grossly redundant one given that they were thinking about ways to resist a force of ultimate end.

"We die... Obviously." 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

"Yeah, that thing can't be neutralised or defended against, so do your make-up and prepare to kiss your bums goodbye!"

Nergal however scratched his chin in thought, before voicing that Carl added something to the mix that suddenly made the proposed vessel for Nonexistence viable, implying that maybe since it was a part of its body he might be able to intervene in some way.

Izanami seemed against the idea, supposing that he needed to focus on keeping the Outer-gods contained in their own domain.

It was a fair point and both sides had merit, but the simple fact was that there was no known countermeasure to that particular ability and precisely because there was no safe way to test one.

"Oh, hang on. I just assumed it was Carl dropping it back on Pluto, but it didn't actually work as well that time, did it?"

The others were a little annoyed Illerion hadn't mentioned it sooner, but the fact she was actually there when Carl needed support was more than any but Levi and worse Ishtar of all people could claim.

Levi thought about it for a second, then finally answered. "Is it possible, he changes the rules of things? He has an affinity for Mind and I remember Dad taking an interest in something on Pluto that read "I think, therefore I am", could it be that things in his presence simply work as he thinks they do?

I mean if so, that means anyone with an affinity for Mind and enough power could use the same thing right?"

Everyone stared at the suddenly self-conscious All-seeing Leviathan, who asked what she had done, oblivious to the fact she had just casually came up with the most convincing answer to meeting Margo on an even playing field that anyone had put forward since the whole thing started.

The most grating part, was that many had implied that his mere presence changes the rules metaphorically and no one had even thought to push it from the metaphorical sense to the literal sense.

"Being shown up by children is growing tiresome, let's get this over and done with so you lot can retire and stop making us all look completely incompetent." Lillim chuckled with fake distress.

She then looked to the daggers she had just bartered for with something no one else had thought to point out didn't belong to her.

"What are you thinking Lillim?" Kyubi asked as she saw the depth in Lillim's studious gaze.

"That power and affinity can do more than we thought... Tell Tenko to stay absolutely still for me but to try his best to resist you."

Lillim's request left him a little concerned that he was being used as a guinea pig in her experiments, but when Kyubi did as she asked he couldn't really express that concern as he could only follow orders.

At least he couldn't before, Lillim fed the daggers her divinity and ran him through with one, though he was not actually the target or struck with the knife as Lillim aimed elsewhere.

The true target of Lillim's attack was the rule of order that made it impossible for a member of a species to disobey any order given to them by the ten-star of their species, which was subsequently severed and Tenko found himself completely free as well as unharmed by the attack.