The Guardian gods-Chapter 562

The air shimmered violently from the sudden displacement, a vacuum created by the land’s insatiable hunger. Once devoured, the churning water underwent a horrifying transformation, solidifying into a thick, viscous body of black sludge.

From within this malevolent sludge, the demons who managed to survive and was not crushed by the wave began to reform, their grotesque bodies slowly emerging from the murky, black mass.

As for the three Sixth-Tier Mages, the sight of Ikenga immediately quelled their rage. It wasn’t fear that gripped them, but a profound unease. Ikenga had proven himself to be an enigma, a force beyond their current comprehension, and the grim reality was that three top-level mages had already fallen by his hand.

By this point, the viscous black sludge had mostly dissipated, its last demon climbing out as the corrupted land below reverted to its previous, albeit scorched, state. The mages exchanged a final, hard glare with Ikenga, then cast their eyes over the devastation below. A portal shimmered open behind them, and without a word, they retreated through it, leaving Ikenga alone on the transformed battlefield.

Ikenga stood amidst the remnants of the scorched earth, a thoughtful expression on his face. His appearance wasn’t solely to aid Zarvok; he had a deeper, more personal agenda. He’d come out this time because he wanted to experiment with something new.

Ikenga’s last battle against the mages was a brutal awakening. While he barely survived, he emerged with a crucial insight into their greatest vulnerability: ignorance. The mages, so confident in their arcane might, were utterly reliant on comprehensive knowledge of their foes. If they knew nothing of their opponent’s abilities, weaknesses, or even their very nature, they couldn’t formulate countermeasures or strategic plans. This meant that, despite their power, they could be caught completely off guard. Their rigid adherence to preparation became their Achilles’ heel when faced with the unknown.

Ikenga also confronted his own critical weakness during that battle: a limited well of divine power and a crippling lack of ambient nature to draw upon. This was a dire situation for a god whose essence was intertwined with the natural world.

In a stroke of desperate genius, Ikenga expended a significant portion of his divine power to manifest his own localized pocket of nature on the barren world. A fundamental act of creation. The artificial environment, brimming with his divine essence, immediately began to replenish his spent power, creating a vital feedback loop. This self-sustaining nature not only revitalized him but also leveled the playing field, transforming a losing battle into a desperate struggle for survival for the mages.

Crucially, this audacious maneuver was only possible because of the barren nature of the planet they fought on. Devoid of any existing flora or fauna, it offered no conflicting natural energies for Ikenga to contend with, allowing his self-created nature to flourish unopposed. Had there been a vibrant ecosystem, his efforts might have been diluted or even actively resisted by the existing natural order as an instictive act to preserve itself which Ikenga understood as his action ruined the world itself. freёnovelkiss.com

Ikenga knows that the mages are meticulous analysts. Once they dissect the remnants of their last clash, they will undoubtedly pinpoint his dependency on nature and the critical role of the barren environment. Their next move is predictable: they will deny him any access to a planet. Instead, they will force the inevitable final confrontation into the empty void of space, where no nature exists for him to connect with or create. This strategic move will aim to cripple him before the battle even begins, turning his strength into a fatal liability.

As the origin god of nature and curses, Ikenga has always understood that he was never destined to be a conventional "fighting god." His power lies not in raw destructive force, but in adaptation and growth, mirroring the very essence of nature itself. This innate adaptability is his greatest asset.

Now, facing the prospect of a battle in the absolute void, Ikenga is not despairing; he is curious. He is keenly interested to observe how his divinity will inherently react to being forced to fight in the barren, lifeless expanse of space. This isn’t just about survival; it’s about the evolution of his own divine essence, pushing the boundaries of what the origin god of nature can achieve when stripped of his most fundamental connection.

While curiosity is a driving force for Ikenga, he understands that unchecked inquisitiveness against an equal opponent would be a fatal flaw. His previous encounter with the mages, where he barely survived, cemented this understanding. Ikenga is not one to let his curiosity lead him to a self-inflicted defeat. That’s why his departure from the Abyss today is not a whim, but a calculated act of preparation and exploration. He’s not simply wondering; he’s actively seeking to bridge the gap in his own power before the inevitable final confrontation.

Ikenga’s cursed divinity is overwhelmingly strong, capable of insidious and devastating effects. However, its efficacy is deeply tied to his access to his original world or divine domain’s vast power pool. Curses, by their very nature, are more passive and less confrontational than overt displays of power. They are slow-burning poisons, effective over time, but vulnerable to immediate depletion.

This means that while a curse might be devastating in the long run, if Ikenga’s current divine energy pool cannot sustain it, the curse becomes meaningless. It simply fizzles out, leaving him exposed.

Yet, in the crucible of his last battle, Ikenga gained another profound understanding: the synergistic potential of his dual nature. He discovered that by weaving curses into his nature-based attacks, he could create something far more potent and immediate. His decisive attack against the three mages, "The Curse of Entropic Bloom," is the prime example of this breakthrough. This ability to infuse his adaptable nature with the insidious power of curses transforms them from passive afflictions into active, devastating forces.

This new understanding is the true wellspring of Ikenga’s current journey. His curiosity now is a focused drive to explore the full extent of this combined power. He wants to know how far he can push the boundaries of this synergy, how potent he can make his nature-infused curses, and how quickly he can deploy them. This is why he has left the isolation of the Abyss: to actively experiment, train, and expand his capabilities in preparation for the ultimate clash with the mages.

Ikenga sought Keles’s companionship on his journey of exploration. However, when he urged her to prepare for the unexpected, Keles’s response was a stark reminder of her domain: "Death needs no preparation for its arrival; it will arrive when it’s needed."

Her words were but a declaration of absolute certainty. As the embodiment of Death, her power isn’t about preemptive strikes or contingency plans; it’s about the inevitable. This unwavering conviction, spoken as Ikenga glanced at her slightly bulging stomach, underscored the profound, unchangeable nature of her divinity, and perhaps hinted at the unique future of their offspring. Her power simply is, making mortal concepts of "preparation" irrelevant to her.

Ikenga smiled. It was a genuine smile, a mix of appreciation for Keles’s resolute nature. With that subtle acknowledgment, he performed an act he hadn’t undertaken in decades: with a mere flex of his will, a shimmering green portal tore open before him.

As he stepped through, his cursed markings glowed faintly, a brief flash of power as he wove a curse of self-concealment around his presence. This was a preemptive measure, a move to ensure his movement isn’t under watchful eyes and is on the empire radar.

The moment he emerged from the portal, Ikenga was met with the blinding, unfiltered light of the sun, immediately followed by the bone-chilling vacuum of space. The portal winked shut behind him, sealing his connection to his previous location. He didn’t float aimlessly; with precise control, Ikenga landed on the Moon.

This act of teleportation was a feat Ikenga was utterly incapable of when he first arrived in this new world. His ability to perform such far-reaching jump now showcases the profound and unique evolutionary potential of an Origin God.

Despite the vast cosmic distance separating them from their original world, Ikenga and Keles have never ceased to grow. While their connection to their primeval source of power might be diminished, their individual divinities, rooted in their very essence as Origin Gods, continue to expand and evolve. This inherent capacity for growth is a defining characteristic of their unique existence.

Recently, Ikenga has begun to notice a subtle yet significant limitation: he can’t simply "touch" all the space around him as he could in his original domain. Unlike his home world, where his presence was ubiquitous, his influence here is more constrained. He’s discovering that his divine reach in this new cosmos is primarily limited to areas where a connection has already been established with him. This means his power doesn’t inherently permeate everything, but rather extends to places he has actively shaped or bonded with.

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