A wind of incredible vigour began swirling with Shiva and I at its centre.
Of course, it was something that he had made with his Wind God power.
(Now that I have learned that you are Entropy, I can’t go easy on you. I will be going all out to defeat you!) (Quasar)
The wind encircling us was letting out a howling sound and was annoying my ears.
But with this much noise, our voices are also erased, and it won’t reach Karen-san and the others who are spectating on the outside.
“Wind God Quasar, it is true that I didn’t properly understand you.” (Haine)
You, who I thought had the weakest presence within the four Base Elements, held such tenacity.
“In that case, I as one of the six Gods of Creation will accept your challenge. Those 1,600 years you say you have accumulated, throw them at me. But my dark matter is not half-baked, you know?” (Haine)
Dark matter gushes out from both of my arms.
That was practically like black smoke, but in this ring where a storm is raging, it wasn’t dispersing like smoke against the violent wind.
It is because it is dark matter after all.
A destructive matter that erases all four basic elements. It was natural for it to not be blown by the wind and still maintained together.
“I don’t know how much effort you have put since the time you became human, but the affinities between divine powers is absolute. Especially the affinity between my darkness and you four Base Elements. Now, how will you be overturning that natural order of things?” (Haine)
The Wind God grinned with his human vessel.
“Wind Twin Guns, Fuuma Koutarou.” (Shiva)
That weapon again huh.
Shooting compressed air from the hole of its cylinder, it is a weapon that pierces the targeted enemy. But those bullets should have already proven that they can’t stand against my dark matter barrier.
One breath faster than the guns pointing at me, I wave both hands to the side and set a dark matter barrier.
Now then, with this, you shouldn’t be able to harm me, Quasar.
“[Crumble]” (Shiva)
I could tell that the trigger of the gun had been pulled.
At the same time as this happened, my body was blown away.
“Guuugh?!” (Haine)
A dreadful impact as if I had been punched through my whole body.
Both of my legs parted from the floor, and I was blown away with good momentum.
“What?! What happened?!” (Haine)
I couldn’t tell at all.
The dark matter shield was covering everything with no gaps. There should have been no openings for even a needle to pass through. Are you saying he went through that and was able to hit me?!
“It is exactly because you are strong that there are many things you overlook.” (Quasar)
Quasar—Shiva was slowly walking towards me.
“What is it I rule over? Just what is the name of the church I govern? It looks like you have completely forgotten that.” (Shiva)
“What are you saying? You are the Wind God, and the Wind Founder, right? And while at it, you are also the wind hero.” (Haine)
“True. But you haven’t fully comprehended wind. It is because an absolute strong individual is able to do everything with just one power, that it only sees all things in one dimension. They don’t try to learn about it deeper. That’s the opening that the weak can use.” (Shiva)
Are you greedy or modest? Settle on one please.
“Wind is air. And air exists anywhere in the world. You simply can’t see it. It exists right in front of us, and it is in constant touch with us. At your hands, legs, face; at all your body.” (Shiva)
“?!!”
“I can freely control that air with my divine power. You are already touching that air. That’s equal to already being in contact with me. No matter what firm barrier you have with no gaps, it won’t change.” (Shiva)
“In other words, that attack just now was—?!” (Haine)
“I explained it before, right? This weapon called gun, by detonating the air that has been compressed in the chambers of it, it is able to shoot them as bullets. But this is a Wind God divine tool. By controlling the divine power, I am able to expand the gunpowder reaction towards the outside as well. Even the air that you are in contact with right now.” (Shiva)
“That means…!” (Haine)
My surroundings have completely turned into this thing called gunpowder, and by pulling the trigger, it explodes.
That was the identity of the attack just now?!
“Wind Twin Guns’ technique, dispersion of matter ‘Crumble’. The one just now was just a simplified explanation though. It is actually quite the advanced technique.” (Shiva)
“Thanks for the kind explanation. But is it okay to be blabbering about your technique?” (Haine)
“If you know what brought you to your defeat, the sense of defeat will be more deeply edged. The way of thinking that the more information one has, the more the advantage they hold, is something that only the weakest among the weakest possess.” (Shiva)
“Is that something the Founder of the secretive church is supposed to say?!” (Haine)
I rush towards Shiva.
As long as he has that technique called ‘Crumble’, it is in a state where he is always in contact with me via the air.
He is able to deal attacks at point-blank.
All barriers are pointless, probably as long as I don’t completely cut off the air between him and me.
In that case, being far away will simply be disadvantageous for me.
I will close the distance and force it into close combat!
“…Is what you would think.” (Shiva)
Shiva easily allowed my approach.
A fierce exchange of punches and kicks began.
“Hoh~, quite the sharp moves you have there. Where did you learn that way of moving your body?” (Shiva)
“From my father, or should I say, the forest and my father?” (Haine)
“Ha, no wonder your moves are sharp, yet unpolished. Dark God Entropy, just a while ago, you asked why I incarnated as a human, but you as well, why is it that you incarnated as a human?” (Shiva)
Both my hands and legs were already releasing dark matter, so just by grazing Shiva, it would stick onto his body, and would eat away on his divine power.
Once that happens, he would be defenseless and won’t be able to do anything. Once that happens, it will be my win.
That’s all I have to do, and yet…
“There’s not even a need to ask. We are talking about you, a God that caused a battle of Gods with the simple reason of ‘loving humans’. You probably just purely wanted to try being a human. Your views are already simplistic. Because you were an absolute power, it in turn also made you unable to see things deeply. That’s why you didn’t notice the possibilities of possessing a human body.” (Shiva)
With his hand still holding his gun, Shiva grabbed my wrist and pulled me.
I tried to resist, but for some mysterious reason, I couldn’t bring out strength, and my balance crumbles.
“What pathetic moves. Your center of gravity is totally visible!” (Shiva)
The other hand of Shiva strikes my chin at lightning speed with the gun barrel.
A gun is a lump of metal. Using it as a blunt weapon gives decent amount of damage.
“Wind Twin Guns’ technique, first form. The many moves that can be made in close quarters combat is what makes the twin guns truly shine.” (Shiva)
“Gugh, Quasar…you—!!” (Haine)
I am being overwhelmed in close combat too.
And what is deciding it is the level of technique. Quasar in that human body has polished the way of using his body in leaps and bounds better than I do.
“6 internal organs, spread to 12 meridians, 15 collaterals, and reaches to the 660 openings – what passes through is ki blood. Different from the ki in the atmosphere, the one filling the body is ki blood. In other words, the total of 114 meridians in your body become the path for the wind to pass. Knowing that important point, and being able to freely control it, you can become wind itself.” (Quasar) <I honestly just did some light research and everything was chinese, so I might be wrong here.>
That is…
“That is the essential point of our wind martial art that my Wind Church has taken centuries to polish. Dark God Entropy, it is true that defeating you purely with divine power would be impossible no matter how many hundred millions of days I pile up. That’s why I endured the shame, and decided on gaining a different power. Even the human power…that you loved so much and went so far to protect that you even tainted the superiority of the strongest God.” (Quasar)
1,600 years.
Are you telling me that he utilized all of that time to obtain a variety of powers? In order to defeat me?
The one in front of me is already not a God.
Even when he was already an ultimate existence like that of a God, he still tried to reach for a further extreme.
Something that surpasses a God.
- 151: Power that defeats Gods
I am being pushed back.
Pushed back overwhelmingly by the Shiva that holds the soul of the Wind God Quasar.
“What’s wrong? Are you not going to come at me? In that case, I will be continuing my offensive.” (Shiva)
Shiva attacks mercilessly.
“Wind Twin Guns’ technique, [Sliding].” (Shiva)
“Wind Twin Guns’ technique, [Chaos Beat].” (Shiva)
“Wind Twin Guns technique, [Crumble].” (Shiva)
“Goaah!”
No good.
All of his attacks hit me with pinpoint accuracy. Crumbling my balance, he exploits the openings it creates.
Not only is there no way to fight back, even my defense can’t keep up.
With that human body of his, that God has accumulated experience and training, and it was in full display at this moment.
An art that uses the body, an art that utilizes the weapon, an art that utilizes divine power; and by combining them all, it creates a natural mix of arts.
They are not things that were build up in one day. It is something that they devoted to create in the time I indulged in sleep inside that seal.
“You—! For the sake of building up this level of technique, you rejected all relations with the other Gods?!” (Haine)
“Contact with those rotted beings would not only be a waste of time, it would also taint my self. In order to draw near your level, a millennium would be lacking. I don’t have the time to waste on trash.” (Shiva)
This Wind God has been a mystery for a long time, and within that veil of mystery, to think that something as terrifying as this was hidden.
“…How is it, Entropy? It is true that the dark matter you control is the strongest. But right now, you are a human. You are simply a human that controls dark matter. In that case, there’s divine power, divine tools, and your own body; the one who is able to master the most what they have available and manage to utilize it precisely, is the one that wins!” (Shiva)
Even if I wanted to speak back, the pain and numbness was not letting me move my mouth.
“I who couldn’t match your power as a God, had no choice but to gather power elsewhere in order to challenge you. You can laugh at how pathetic that is. But even so, since I am a God, I will defeat you, and show you that I can polish myself to become the summit of Gods!” (Shiva)
“There’s no way I would laugh at that!” (Haine)
The sensation finally returned to my lips.
“Isn’t that splendid, Wind God Quasar. It is true that you got involved with humans far more than I did, and understand them more. In those 1,600 years I was simply sleeping, you pushed on your studies and improved on your techniques which have now crystallized. I can clearly tell that.” (Haine)
“What?!” (Shiva)
“From the five, I feel like I might have met the most decent one of the Gods for the humans…but, too bad. That’s exactly why it is a pity.” (Haine)
“Are you delirious already?! What is it that is a pity?!” (Shiva)
Shiva prepares his wind twin guns. If I show a slight suspicious move, he must be intending to blow me away with that ‘Crumble’ that activates at point-blank range.
“I am saying it is a pity I can’t allow myself to lose against you. I can’t provide you with the blessing of ‘victory’ for all the things that you have desperately tried to form. Because that would be the biggest of insults for you.” (Haine)
And what’s most important is that…
“You can’t defeat me. All possibilities aside from me losing on purpose…are impossible. It is exactly as you said. I am indeed the absolute God. To cover that difference between us with just this much…is truly not enough.” (Haine)
“Impudent talk! Then edge it in that body of yours! Wind Twin Guns’ technique—-?!!!!!” (Shiva)
He must have noticed already.
From my feet, a mass of dark matter was overflowing.
But it wasn’t only my feet. From both my hands, and from the surface of my whole body, dark matter was being produced and covering my body.
“You bastard, doing strange stuff! It is pointless struggle! Wind Twin Guns technique, [Crumble]!” (Shiva)
The technique of Shiva activated, but by the time it blew up the air in my surroundings, the dark matter had already covered me completely.
That’s why I said it won’t work.
It is exactly because his target is in contact with air that his technique is able to activate at point-blank range no matter where they are, a terrifying technique.
But right now, my body itself has been covered by dark matter without leaving a single opening, and it is not in contact with air.
And dark matter is the strongest protective film that nullifies divine powers.
Even when that dark matter had covered my whole body, it was still being produced in large amounts.
“You isolated yourself huh! —-?! Wa?!!” (Shiva)
He must have noticed too.
The dark matter that continued increasing in amount was steadily flooding the place, covering the floor, and was spreading to all directions with me as its centre.
That domain of dark matter had finally reached the feet of Shiva.
The ground had been dyed completely black, and that black was creeping up his legs.
“The dark matter is—! Are you planning on swallowing me up as well?!” (Shiva)
Shiva tried to get away from it, but with his divine power disturbed, he couldn’t fight back at all.
Even if you try to struggle out of it, it is already too late.
The dark matter crawled from Shiva’s legs to the abdomen, chest, head, and after covering his whole body, it swallowed him.
But even with that, the dark matter didn’t stop propagating.
From the spectator seat, Karen-san, Yorishiro and the others must be seeing it as something black thickly swelling; a strange spectacle.
Being pressed down by the dark matter that can be described as darkness itself, the vision was obviously blocked; the sense of hearing and the sense of touch as well. It also erases divine power, so you can’t detect those either. The only thing that can be felt is the gravity emitted by the dark matter, which allows you to understand that you are inside darkness.
(Welcome to the darkness domain.) (Entropy)
I speak in the soul wave transmission again.
In this place, there’s not even air, so there’s no way for the sound from the vibrations of air to reach him.
(You have been caught inside darkness. Inside the dark matter domain where not a single ray of light can pass through. In here, you are powerless.) (Entropy)
(Do you think you have won with this, Entropy?! Wind Twin Guns’ technique—!) (Quasar)
It is pointless.
Your technique, your power itself cannot be activated unless it makes contact with air.
Now that we have been swallowed by darkness and all air has been cut off, it is basically as if both your hands and legs have been torn off.
Even your specialized body arts are pointless inside this darkness.
Dark matter not only covers your entire body, it even goes inside your body, and completely fills your lungs and stomach with darkness.
There’s no place darkness can’t invade, and there’s nothing darkness can’t swallow.
(GAAAAAAAHHHH!!) (Quasar)
It is truly a shame. For that crystallization of things you have taken so much time to make, to be destroyed this easily.
But even so, it looks like I had to proof that there’s no way to overcome things that can’t be overcome.
The two poles and the four base elements; the heavy difference that divides the Gods in two.
([Dark Matter, Set]!) (Entropy)
In an instant, the darkness disperses.
The dark matter, that was inside and outside of Shiva, created a gravitational vibration the moment it disappeared -in other words, a gravity explosion.
The microscopic dark matter had dispersed all at the same time, not only outside of him, but even inside, when they were glued onto him.
“Gahaaaaah!!”
Being crushed by the outburst of gravity, Shiva was tragically blown up.
And ended up in tatters.
- 152: Wind of Destruction
“…Huufff!!…Hufff!!”
Due to my order, the propagated dark matter had all scattered and disappeared.
Going out of the scattered dark matter, I tried hard to fix my heavily disordered breathing.
Covered completely in dark matter, there’s no air to breathe, and inside the dark matter where it is filled to the brim with adjusted gravity, I can control time as well and am able to stop the passage of time in my body at a number that’s very close to zero.
With that ability, I left my body in a state where it doesn’t breath, and with my God soul, I controlled the dark matter to crush Shiva.
That I am unable to fix my disordered breathing even now is because the damage I received from Shiva was that much big.
A fighting art that was created by several centuries of study. Each one of them was a deadly attack. I somehow managed to divert the attacks with my dark matter, or mitigate the damage with it. If not for that, it would have ended in one hit.
It is exactly because I thought that I couldn’t continue enduring that I had to resort to covering it all in dark matter.
If possible, I didn’t want to use it. It is dangerous after all.
“…Oi.” (Haine)
I drag my pained body and head to the man that was even more in tatters than me and was sprawled on the floor.
Shiva had received heavy damage from the outburst of gravity.
“Are you alive?” (Haine)
There’s no response.
I don’t want to think that he is dead.
I didn’t want to use the method of covering the whole place in dark matter. I may be repeating myself here but, it is because it is dangerous.
It is not because the gravity attack is powerful or because you can’t breathe. There’s a representative trait of the dark matter that makes it the most dangerous part of it. The phenomenon that occurs when the divine power is erased.
In the first place, divine power is a composition that was produced by us Gods when we created the world. It fills the sky, earth, water; at all places in the world. Of course, even within the body of humans.
Divine power is originally a spiritual-like energy that exists in order for living beings to stay alive. With the cooperation of the six Gods, the humans created had all divine powers: earth, water, fire, wind, light, and darkness without fail. With that balance in place, the essence of life is born.
If a human were to touch dark matter, their divine power inside of them would be erased thoroughly, and in the end, the incorporeal essence of life would dry up as well, and it would lead to death.
Shiva had been swallowed up by dark matter and has been affected by it, so rather than the damage from the gravity outburst, that side of things should be more serious.
Even if he is the incarnation of the Wind God, he is without doubt a human right now.
“It is my win.” (Haine)
I call Shiva once again.
“Have you had your fill with this? The challenge that you took 1,600 years to prepare, I have properly accepted it and responded to it. Though it doesn’t mean I would just lose on purpose because of it.” (Haine)
The fight that was made as an extension of the five Founders Conference had escalated not by two times, but three.
There’s still a lot of things I want to ask this guy as a God, and as a Founder as well. I want to have Yorishiro help out in a variety of things.
As a hero…I don’t really have any noteworthy things to ask. The hero alliance of Karen-san and the others is terminated after all.
At any rate, I want this guy to do a lot of things.
It might end up overworking him, but it is also his fault for taking that many positions on his own.
I will have him work properly by the amount of titles he has.
“The Wind capital, Rudras Metropolis… This is the city that you used in order to defeat me huh…” (Haine)
We just finished our fight, so I didn’t feel like moving on with the matter at hand. For now, I try doing harmless talk.
“In order to fight against me with something other than the power of a God, you obtained the knowledge of humans, and piled up the power of humans for several centuries, and this is the nation that came out of it huh. The wish of a God has gathered people, and has become the base of their living.” (Haine)
“It is not something as exaggerated as that.” (Shiva)
Shiva says this while still collapsed on the floor.
“The trigger of me raising the Rudras Metropolis…the Wind Church, was because I wanted prayer energy. I was tempted by Inflation.” (Shiva)
“The result of the Underworld Country huh.” (Haine)
It happened not long after the world was created.
The first nation of humanity, the Dark Underworld Country, was build up by the Light Goddess Inflation who had incarnated into a human called as Queen Izanami.
That Underworld Country was seen as the avarice of humans, and the ones who brought it to its destruction were the four Base Elements.
The Wind God Quasar is one of them.
“For me, that was a pain to go along with. If I hadn’t cooperated, the trash Nova and Coacervate would have made a ruckus, and it would obstruct my training, so I had no choice but to expend part of my divine power to create a calamity. And after that, the one who appeared was that woman.” (Shiva)
Inflation who had returned to her God appearance from that of Queen Izanami huh.
“That woman showed a path to us where we could sip on the power of humans. That alone was something I couldn’t ignore. That’s because just by eating the prayers of humans, my power would increase by several times more after all. At that time, my hopes of defeating you had inflated.” (Shiva)
But that was the trap of Inflation for destroying the Underworld Country.
“At some point in time, the human prayers were steadily decreasing, and at the same time, I noticed that I couldn’t maintain my power without the prayers. At that moment, I finally learned the scariness of that woman’s grudge. Beating you was an ephemeral dream. Right now, it is even questionable if I would be able to maintain my very existence.” (Shiva)
“And that’s when I appeared.” (Haine)
“That’s right. Honestly speaking, I was trembling in happiness. It is because I could still maintain an acceptable level of power as a God, it was a critical moment. Putting it in another way, it also means this was my last chance. There will probably be no other moment where I will become stronger than now and be able to challenge you once again.” (Shiva)
Shiva said this with a feeling of abandonment.
“…That’s why…I need nothing anymore.” (Shiva)
“What?” (Haine)
The dangerous air of those words instantly made my guard come up.
“What do you mean by that?!” (Haine)
“I couldn’t realize the ambition I took more than a thousand years aiming for. If I will just be decaying from now on until I disappear, I will just disappear right this instant. Let the world fall together with me….. Entropy, now that I think about it, you wanted to know, right? The place where the Mother Monster I created was.” (Shiva)
You are going to talk about that now?! Moreover, along with those ominous words.
“They were always at a place where you could see them. That’s how it has always been. The things that you want are right close by, and yet, you don’t notice that and continue searching. A bunch that likes to do wasteful things.” (Shiva)
Shiva’s finger points at the sky.
At that place, there’s no sky. A black cloud was blocking the view.
“That black cloud, could it be—?!” (Haine)
The ‘Wind Barrier’ that was covering Rudras Metropolis at the very beginning…I thought it had gone somewhere after it dispersed, but it had become a black cloud and was covering the sky?
“Let me introduce you to it. That itself is what I have created as a God; the Wind Mother Monster, Beelzebub. Now, devour this world that I have no need of anymore!” (Shiva)
