Chapter 524 (2): Stats Unknown. The Stronger the Opponent, the Stronger He Becomes

Golden light surged as the goddess’s fading form scattered in all directions, attempting to reconstruct behind Wayne. Following a flicker, She was forced back into Her original form. She looked down at Her chest in horror.

The five fingers piercing through Her chest had turned into five long, slender tentacles, each branching into five more tendrils, splitting and multiplying endlessly. It was as if a web of pale capillaries had filled Her to the brim.

“Kekekeke—”

Wayne phased through Her shield as though the solid item was something intangible. His body merged into his arm and burrowed into the Goddess of Light’s body fully, roaming around before erupting from Her mouth, nose, ears, and eyes.

The discharged white foam gathered and transformed back into Wayne. He pointed at himself with a thumb, wagging his fingers at the goddess.

He was as petty as ever and could not tolerate even the slightest offense. He always served revenge steaming hot.

The Goddess of Light scowled in fury. She examined Herself and confirmed that no filth had remained, then She stared at Wayne with chilling ice in Her eyes.

Within Her, Her thoughts had divided into two parts, arguing like two homunculi.

Kaleb: I told you that you didn’t have to worry. He always keeps his word.

Siluk: Wake up. There is no magic bullet that’ll undo what’s done. It’ll be too late once he breaks his promise.

Kaleb said nothing to that. Facts would speak for themselves. The two parts of thoughts merged again so that Siluk could see for Herself.

“You’re running out of time, Goddess. Use your ultimate move already. I don’t want you to deny your defeat and call me unreasonable.” Wayne raised his hand and splayed his fingers. “Don’t worry. I won’t corrupt you. Use whatever ultimate move you have, and I’ll take it head-on.”

The Goddess of Light wasted no time before combining the Authorities of the two Divine Realms. Infinite light descended upon the world, expanding the third level of the Divine Realm of Sun infinitely.

Stars emerged, and the Milky Way flowed. A pure white void in luminance emerged in front of Wayne.

He looked up at the sky and saw the Goddess of Light assimilating with the world and becoming infinite light, existing as a concept rather than a material form. His large chest eye dilated and contracted repeatedly, applying different filters until the holy white became pitch black, and he caught the silhouette of a humanoid figure.

The figure had no facial features but had a graceful, alluring body. Her immeasurable height continued to increase.

The light could not be approached, barred by stars and the Milky Way. Wayne attempted to identify the patterns of space and found nothing save for light itself in this false cosmos.

Rumble!

The Authorities of the Divine Realms came crashing down, with the Divine Realm of Sun on the left and the Divine Realm of Moonlight on the right. For a brief moment, they merged, then the luminous world came crashing down, pinning Wayne beneath the infinite light.

White foam surged and writhed. The pale ocean attempted to fight back with countless tentacles surging upward, only to be mercilessly severed by the light.

The terrifying divine might landed on Wayne, giving him both an agonizing pain and a perverse satisfaction. He would like to turn things around by whispering to the goddess, but decided against it because he didn’t want to break his promise and betray Kaleb’s trust.

Boom!!

The Divine Realms descended. No paleness remained in the infinite light.

“I won.” The Goddess of Light let out a sigh of relief, but She found no pleasure in Her victory. Her thoughts split into two parts and started arguing once more.

Kaleb: You won. He’s yours from now on. Bed him and make Ines die from rage.

Siluk: Don’t be ridiculous. While we’ve won, I cannot kill him. Once the fusion comes to an end, he’ll regain his freedom and refuse to honor the bet. The best we can expect is a second round. He’s evolving so quickly. I’m not sure I can defeat him again.

Kaleb: Impossible!

Siluk: Why? That’s exactly the kind of person he is.

Kaleb: If he’s going to break his promise, he can do it now. Why would he wait until he loses?

Siluk: Idiot, don’t you know people lash out from humiliation?

Kaleb: I do. That’s what you’re doing now.𝒻𝑟ℯℯ

Siluk was rendered speechless. She gave up and let Kaleb say whatever She wanted to say, making agreeing noises. When Kaleb realized Siluk was only humoring Her after a long monologue, She huffed and merged their thoughts once more.

While Siluk was the brain at this moment, Kaleb actually had the final say when it came to the Goddess of Light, or it would be more accurate to say that with a bigger share, She had a louder voice.

Just as the Goddess of Light was reflecting on Herself, waiting for the fusion to expire while looking for a way to extend the fusion, She heard an explosive noise coming from below the Divine Realms. It sounded like a tear. She sensed an eye opening and locking onto Her through layers of space.

“Impossible,” the goddess muttered in shock. “No god in the Chosen Land can endure the pressure of two Divine Realms. Even Elohim...”

...wouldn’t be able to hold on.

Rumble!!

The land of the Divine Realms fractured as abyssal rifts burst open, bypassing the tangible earth, fire, water, and wind elements and reaching the infinite space of the Divine Realms. Surpassing even the concept of light, the rifts tore into the Divine Realms and dragged all light in proximity into the dark abyss.

Four colossal tentacles burst out of the rifts, clawing through layer after layer of space to coil around the Goddess of Light’s limbs. Terrible forces bore down upon the giant of golden light and dragged Her toward the abyss, rendering Her helpless.

The Goddess of Light didn’t struggle. She summoned the Authorities of the Divine Realms and continued to apply pressure. She thought it would be a quick suppression, and the struggle wouldn’t last—indeed, it was all over in no time, just not in the way She had expected. Four other tentacles reached out of the abyss, splitting the pale ocean and grappling the world of light.

Amid teeth-chattering ripping noises, the light split into two and reverted to the separate Divine Realms of Sun and Moonlight.

The goddess tried to stop it, but the opposing force was overwhelming. Under the might of the massive tentacles, the Divine Realms were toyed with like two marbles, losing the last shred of dignity.

Without the Divine Realms suppressing the pale ocean, a pale figure emerged from below, dwarfing even the Goddess of Light.

Each of the writhing tentacles of chaos was massive beyond measure. The great fiendish eye in the middle, especially, could easily devour the Goddess of Light with the seemingly bottomless darkness in the heart of the iris.

Darkness had come!

Light resisted instinctively, detonating surging light to seep across heaven and earth. Infinite radiance came from above, shooting at the fiendish eye in the forms of sharp blades, but scattered into dying embers the moment they touched the eye.

Four tentacles restricted the Goddess of Light’s thoughts, preventing the fading figure from escaping. She ended up pulled into the pupil of darkness by the tentacles.

Passing through a veil of light, She faced a chilling, suffocating Darkness that isolated Her from the outside world, making Her thoughts come to a halt. She could no longer think. Above Her was the way to escape, but the Goddess of Light couldn’t even sever Her limbs. All around Her were irises of countless pale tentacles, enveloping Her inviolable, sacred form. She was completely flooded and overwhelmed.

The writhing madness consumed Her.

***

Palace of Dawn, night level of the Divine Realm of Sun.

In the garden adjacent to the temple, Siluk lay quietly on a slightly reclined lounger. Hearing laughter, She roused gradually, Her eyelashes fluttering.

Before She even woke up, Her look of disdain was already in place.

“Stop exaggerating, Wayne. I’m not that wonderful...”

“My goddess, it seems that you hold certain misunderstandings about yourself. Trust me. You’ve always been the most wonderful.”

“!”

Siluk gasped for breath like a drowning fish suddenly remembering that it could breathe underwater. She jerked up, recalling the nightmare of being enveloped by paleness, Her silver eye wide with lingering fright.

She hurriedly examined Herself and confirmed that She was still pure, that She had not been transformed by Wayne while unconscious.

Indeed, nothing changed, and She had not been corrupted.

“You’re awake, Siluk!” Wayne waved at Her. “Stop touching yourself. I’ve examined you and made sure that you haven’t been corrupted. If you’re worried about getting perved on, there’s even less reason for you to be concerned. With me keeping an eye on you, no other pervert could take advantage of you.”

He pointed at his eyes, indicating that he had seen everything clearly.

He had always been good at provoking people. Siluk lost Her composure immediately and stalked into the garden, grabbing Kaleb’s hand to take Her to the Divine Realm of Moonlight.

“Hey, this is my home. I can’t run away.” Kaleb didn’t want to leave. Wayne had a way with words, and She wanted to listen to him speak a little longer. In fact, She even grabbed onto Siluk’s wrist. Since She was staying, Her best friend should, too.

Siluk blanched in terror. Taking Kaleb’s hand, She examined Her with thoughts to make sure She hadn’t been corrupted.

Good news: Kaleb had not been corrupted by the white foam. She remained 100% pure Sun.

Bad news: Kaleb was also uncontaminated by wisdom. She was 100% a heartbreakingly stupid idiot.

Siluk stared at Kaleb wordlessly. She was clearly going to give Herself away for free. Not wanting to escape alone, Siluk earnestly appealed to Her friend, “Trust me. Just trust me this once. This man cannot be relied on. Doom awaits you if you do. He’ll use us as cannon fodder when the Final Judgment comes.”

“Hey, I’m right here. How could you expose my scheme in front of me? Do I not deserve respect?” Wayne huffed, smiling at Kaleb. “She’s only half right. It’s not ‘us’ since She’s the only one who will be cannon fodder. She’s doomed on the day of the Final Judgment.”

Kaleb burst out laughing. “Wayne, you shouldn’t tease Siluk right now. Is it so hard to coddle Her a little?”

“Let me try...” Wayne stroked his chin thoughtfully. “Siluk is a goddess of wisdom and beauty alike. She’s descended from the distant river of stars, luminous and pure, untouched by any dust. She’s the queen of the night and an undying light in the long river of time.”

“Amazing!” Kaleb clapped. “Is there more? Siluk would love to hear it. Keep going.”

“There is more. I’m not done yet.” Wayne shrugged. “Parenthesis. This comment costs five silker.”

Kaleb didn’t get it, but instinct told Her that the added part wasn’t a compliment. She sighed in resignation. “Strange, why do you have such a problem with Siluk? She’s a good goddess too.”

“Because She keeps trying to separate us,” Wayne grumbled.

“That makes sense...”

“...”

Hearing the two finish each other’s sentences with perfect chemistry soured Siluk’s face further. She shook Her sleeves and stalked away. “If you want to stay, Kaleb, stay. I’m going back to my Divine Realm. I hope that the next time I meet you, you’ll still be a free goddess.”

At the same time, though, She was imploring Kaleb to leave with Her in Her mind, or Kaleb should at least stop Her from leaving.

Someone did stop Her, but not Kaleb.

“Where do you think you’re going, Siluk? Remember our bet?” Wayne raised an eyebrow, his voice dipping menacingly. “You should ask for my permission before taking your leave. If you won’t honor your promise, I’ll have to resort to coercion to ensure you do so.”

White foam spurted out of his fingertips, turning into a small writhing octopus in his palm.

Eyes wide, Kaleb muttered under Her breath, “Cute.”

Siluk stiffened. She never expected to lose after merging with Kaleb. She slowly turned to Wayne with Her teeth clenched, Her eyes glinting. Though She would like to go back on Her word, She couldn’t.

She couldn’t defeat him in a fight, not even after using Her trump card. Moreover, he was in the right.

So why did I lose? Who says that justice always prevails? Is it running late?

“My goddess, are you going to accept your loss with dignity and allow me to have my way with you while you retain your autonomy, or are you going to resist and force me to deprive you of your autonomy before having my way with you?”

Wayne fiddled with the octopus in his hand, his smile threatening. “I’d suggest you choose the latter. I look forward to seeing you submit to me in earnest. Imagining how you’d look begging on your knees makes my wicked heart race.”

“Wayne,” Kaleb suddenly chimed in.

“What?”

“Let me play with the octopus.”

“It’s not an actual octo—fine, as long as you’re happy.”

He tossed the critter to Kaleb, who caught it with both hands and studied it with Her thoughts, not the least bit concerned about getting corrupted.

“So, Siluk, what do you say?”

Wayne treated the two goddesses differently, switching attitudes with ease. When he turned to Siluk again, he looked so overbearing and villainous that he resembled a landlord pounding on Her door with a debt deed in hand.

Siluk’s expression shifted. From Her peripheral vision, She saw Kaleb studying the octopus with Her head bowed. She closed Her eyes and deflated.

“I’ll pick the first option. You win. From now on, I’ll listen to your bidding.”