Chapter 506 (1): Believe That Left Eye Twitching Heralded Fortune and Dismiss the Idea That Right Eye Twitching Meant Disaster as Superstition.

“Darkness...” Grau scoffed. “What does he have to do with Darkness? If you’re running out of lines, you should just name-drop Nature. That’ll be more believable.”

Saigner scoffed, too, trying to fit in.

“R-Right? What does this have to do with the Goddess of Darkness?” Wayne nodded and raised his voice. “Sizorn, I am the goddess’s knight in the mortal realm. Grau and Saigner received the goddess’s oracles a long time ago, and they only put on this act to expose you as a traitor. You failed the test. Today will be the day you meet your defeat and death.”

Sizorn frowned, pondering how likely it was that Death had been acting. Whether it was possible or not, though, he had gone too far to turn back. Even if there was a possibility that Death would wake up, he had to make it into an impossibility. Her slumber would continue indefinitely.

Of course, he couldn’t say that out loud. Inheritance was all about legitimacy. If he didn’t seem like a legitimate heir, others would follow his example.

“Traitors are traitors,” Sizorn said impassively. “No amount of embellishment would change the fact that you’re traitors. I’ve been guarding the One Universe and the Temple of Eternity under the goddess’s order. If you want to hurt the goddess, you’ll have to do it over my dead body.”

“Haven’t you died once before?”

“...” xN

When the air fell silent save for puffs of suppressed laughter, Wayne turned to Grau, whose shoulders were shaking, in confusion. “What’s wrong? Is that something I shouldn’t say, too?”

“It is. You’ve thoroughly humiliated Sizorn!” Grau gave Wayne a thumbs-up. It was his first official meeting with Wayne, and he had already taken a liking to the man. Wayne was much more interesting than Saigner, Rognes, and Sizorn. The thought that he could become colleagues with Wayne filled him with quiet excitement. He would like to chat with him about curses and ways to torment heretics.

Sizorn was so enraged that his eyes burned with phosphorescent light. He drew a heavy, pitch-black greatsword from the void and declared, “Save your posturing, Traitors. Come at me together. Today, I’ll clean the house for the goddess.”

“That’ll be easy. You should just kill yourself and die again.” Wayne drew his sword and stopped Saigner from rushing to purchase the Indulgences. “I know you’re too cowardly to commit suicide, so I’ll generously execute you with Shadow Nightmare, bestowed upon me by the goddess.”

“You?” Sizorn laughed, growling as he charged at Wayne. “I don’t know when a third subordinate god joined Darkness, but this is the Underworld, where Darkness cannot yet reach. I’ll show Darkness some goodwill and allow you to leave the Underworld with dignity.”

“What a scaredy dragon. I don’t blame you, though. You’ve lost your heart, so of course you no longer have courage and confidence!”

Sizorn’s face darkened. Zeroing in on Wayne with his thoughts and freezing the space Wayne occupied, he charged and swung his black greatsword to bisect Wayne at the waist.

“You dropped like—”

He was interrupted before he could turn around. Tilting his body, he blocked the attack with his greatsword.

Clang!

Two blades clashed and sputtered sparks. Sizorn turned to Wayne in surprise. “Grau handed the Authority of the Underworld to you? That slouch. Choosing to serve someone as a dog rather than be a god?”

Why didn’t you become my dog then?! Sizorn cursed Grau out for being a terrible judge of character. Why would he choose to serve the wench named Darkness rather than a fine superior like Sizorn?

He had never once suspected that Wayne’s Authority had come from Saigner. It was common knowledge that a certain subordinate god hailed from a noble background and thus held herself with pride; she would not and could not lower herself—she would only learn to be friendly and polite after being forced to her knees and stripped of all value.

Sizorn soon experienced something even more shocking: the draconic power he was so proud of was yielding. He was losing an arms race!

Sizorn’s eyes widened. “What are you? Another great dragon? A great dragon of Darkness kept by the Goddess of Darkness?”

Great dragon of Darkness kept by the goddess? That’s not entirely wrong.

Wayne grinned. Rather than explaining that he was buffed by two parts of the Authority, he put more force into his arms and pushed Shadow Nightmare down. Once Sizorn sidestepped to dodge the slash, Shadow Nightmare drew a radiant arc in the air, leaving Sizorn flustered.

Sizorn was losing in both strength and speed. He was close to losing his mind.

He refused to accept that his life essence was inferior. Stubbornly, he met raw strength with raw strength, determined to clear the great dragons’ name.

Usually, great dragons had reasons to be haughty in the Astral Plane given their life essence. Even the elven evolution that the goddesses pursued paled in comparison in terms of existence and potential.

The goddesses were able to beat up great dragons because of their wealth of knowledge. Knowledge was power, and the straight-A students were able to crush the physically strong jocks.

Great dragons had excellent potential with a high ceiling. Even without training, they would be able to match a demigod’s power once they reached adulthood, and they didn’t have to put in much work to acquire a Divine Domain imbued with faith. The moment they were born, they were benefiting from their hard work in their past life.

Still, Wayne was even more talented and had an even higher ceiling.

Boom!!

Before Sizorn realized it, he had already been kicked in the face. He flew backward and slammed through hundreds of broken stars. An irresistible power tore at him, and he was transported right in front of Wayne along with the space around him. He saw only a flash as he hurriedly raised his greatsword to defend himself.

An impossibly strong power came crashing down. Sizorn heard his bones grinding and trembling. An unbelievable thought flashed through his mind.

His Authority rivals mine!

Not just Grau, even Saigner has chosen the Goddess of Darkness!

Those two are out of their minds!

Another kick hit Sizorn in the chest. Space stilled around him, and he slammed into the ground. The buff from the Authority failed to give him an edge. The most it could do was prevent the gap between him and Wayne from widening, while he could do nothing. He seemed to see two faint figures behind Wayne’s back: Darkness, and Death.

Such was faith. Even the most clear-headed worshipper couldn’t help but buy into the nonsense.

Wayne’s sweeping blade generated powerful gales, and broken light danced in the air. The one-sided battle of raw power lasted around thirty seconds before Sizorn’s dragon armor became all tattered and broken. Every time he swung his blade, he had to howl to exert power.

He wasn’t shouting about love and friendship. That he didn’t believe in. It was merely an old habit of a great dragon that shouting helped with damage output.

Meanwhile, Saigner had wiped out Sizorn’s vassals, leaving no survivors. Watching Sizorn’s coming defeat, she regretted handing the Authority to Wayne so early just to prove herself. If she had waited a little longer, she would be the one fighting Sizorn now, and killing the traitor would surely win the goddess’s mercy.

“Regretting it already, aren’t you?” Grau never missed a chance to mock the traitor. He came out of nowhere and jeered, “After Wayne promised to let you live, you lost your concern and now ponder whether you should toss him aside, regretting handing your Authority away too readily. You’re a creature of desires. You’re too greedy.”

“Think about it. This is his mission. The goddess ordered him and him alone to defeat the three subordinate gods. It’s the trial that’ll make him a subordinate god. You’ve long since lost your chance.”

“If you hold even the slightest loyalty for the goddess, you’ll stay away from Wayne. He has a bright future ahead of him. He shouldn’t risk the goddess’s displeasure for you.”

“Shut up!” Saigner raged. She regretted wiping out Sizorn’s vassals so thoroughly that she didn’t have anyone to kill to vent her anger.

Grau sneered at her, not intending to stop.

“Amazing. Is this what a great dragon is? You’re indeed powerful, so much so that I’m this close to losing.” Wayne hoisted his sword over his shoulder and sauntered up to Sizorn. He had wanted to use the pressure Sizorn applied to evolve further, but unfortunately, the gap between them was too great. While he was similarly buffed, he could sense no pressure from Sizorn.

Subordinate gods were no longer his match. The only ones who could help him adapt further were the five goddesses—when they were in their Divine Realms, specifically!

Then this fight didn’t need to continue. It was better to finish things off early and set up an ambush in the Temple of Eternity, giving Rognes a surprise when he entered.

Wayne narrowed his eyes, fully unleashing the Authority that he had been suppressing. The incredible buff pushed his presence to such a height that he appeared like a descended god.

Sizorn’s pupils contracted. “Impossible. You have more power? But you...”

“I was only playing along. You didn’t actually think I’d gone all in, did you?” Wayne raised his sword horizontally. “If you could force me to drop Shadow Nightmare, I might just show you my full power since you’re going to die one way or another. The dead deserve respect, don’t they? You’ve had it hard.”

Prideful and arrogant as he was, the great dragon could not tolerate the insult. Sizorn roared furiously, his body expanding. His great dragon form filled the vast cosmos.

Roooar—

The shadow of death covered the sky. A corpse dragon spanning over a thousand meters long flapped its rotten wings, casting down green phosphorescent light as it took flight. The horns on its head were ugly and weathered. From its nostrils and mouth, grey Death energy came out. Half of his face had rotted, revealing sickly pale gums. He had one greyed eye and one eye socket filled with dancing white light.

The body and the head were similarly decayed. Suppressed Death had corroded the great dragon’s invincible physique. Large patches of hardy scales had turned ashen, with eerie colorful spots scattered across its body.

It was rotten, tattered, tragic... It was a great dragon that was long dead.

Strangely, around its chest, the cracks that were deep enough to reveal the bones were stitched together. Through the cracks of the rotten ribs, one could see a heart flickering softly.

It was still beating.

The corpse dragon was entirely dead save for the beating heart. The soft green light it radiated was brimming with vitality, in stark contrast with the deathly stillness surrounding it.

It was like the last light that refused to be devoured by a dark abyss, reversing the precarious, complex balance between life and death. It could bring the rotten dragon back to life at any time.

Roooar—

The sorrowful roars continued. Sizorn would like to avoid seeing his current form if possible. Glaring at the insignificant figure armed with a sword, the corpse dragon breathed out Death energy from its maw. Grey floods tore through the cosmic space, spreading out in the blink of an eye.

Swinging Shadow Nightmare, Wayne cut through the grey tides. He looked at the green beating heart and sensed a faint energy of Nature.

It reminded him of the Heat of Nature, which Rognes had entrusted to him.