Chapter 59

Advanced spells, something only heroes of B rank and above could hope to use, most of the time it requires lengthy preparation and incantation to use and consumes a lot of mana.

Theodore didn't realize it at first, but after his reincarnation, he began to notice that the advanced spells were somehow connected to gods of different mythologies.

Like his Devouring Winter, which was Boreas' magic, the spell that Noah used corresponded to the 'Queen of Magic'.

'Isis, Goddess of Healing and Magic.'

[Warning! The Advanced Spell 'Isis' Judgement' is being casted!]

[None of your magic is strong enough to go against the Queen of Magic's power, Magic Defenses decrease by 50%.]

The purple magic circle glowed bright with power before a rainbow beam shot from its center, it was half the diameter of the circle which left no room for the paralyzed Theodore to dodge.

The attack was a sure-hit, no one thought that he could've avoided it.

Smoke that'd engulfed the entire area began to part, first revealing the smirking Charles who was unharmed by Noah's spell, the sword in his hand gleamed an orange hue and seemed to be radiating with power akin to that of the Isis' Judgement. "...What will you do now? You're probably out of stamina from our combined attacks."

<<HP: 3,174,620/7,000,000>>

[The Bloodline Skill 'Immortality' is restoring your Health Points!]

<<HP: 3,190,000/7,000,000>>

When the dust finally settled, Theodore was still standing in his spot, he'd plucked out the two blades stuck in his body and his wounds were recovering at a visible rate. His expression alone spoke of his frustration as his gaze snapped towards Noah. "When this paralysis effect is over…I'll start with you, mage."

"Ha," Charles slowly shook his head, his shoulders relaxing slightly which meant that he was still greatly underestimating his opponent. "Do you know why my friend casted the spell while I was running at you?"

Theodore annoyingly turned towards the swordsman. "Because that sword you have can absorb attacks."

"Sharp eyes," Charles chuckled. "It increases the damage it can do to its opponents…But I didn't attack you since it doesn't account for durability, I can't risk my precious blade breaking."

"...What's your point?"

"Man, aren't you in such a rush?" Charles impaled the sword into the ground and immediately the aura surrounding it flared outwards, growing big enough to become a tornado of energy sending debris and dust flying everywhere around him. "With those sharp eyes of yours, you could probably figure it out, right?"

[The Covetous Blade accepts the sacrifice.]

[The Avaricious Dragon responds to its Blade's call.]

The flaming halo of magic that was once irregular suddenly took shape, it curled and twisted itself until the image of a western dragon formed around Charles' figure, and in mere moments, its eyes flared to life.

"Who dares to summon me." A familiar voice sounded out as the dragon's feet touched the ground. It shrunk into the figure of a human as the rest of its body emerged.

The silhouette solidified until an actual person stood in its place, he looked the same as when they'd met before with his yak-like horns, long silver hair and burning gold eyes, though this time he wore an extravagant brown suit instead of his usual orange ones, making him look like a victorian-era noble instead of a businessman.

When Theodore's eyes met with his, immediately the demon shouted with pure shock and anger. "Huh!? You!? Did you summon me!?"

Charles suddenly bowed. "It is I who—"

"Shut up! I'm not talking to you!" The demon only turned towards the human for a moment. His eyes went back to glaring at Theodore instantly.

He gave his "old friend" a mocking smile. "Hello Mammon, it's nice to see you."

"Nice my ass!" Greed looked around. "Where the f*ck am I? How did you summon me here!?"

When Mammon's hands landed on the sword in Charles' grip, his expression instantly turned dark. He stared at the swordsman as a menacing aura radiated from his form. "You…Where did you get that sword?"

Charles didn't waver under the immense pressure of a demon king and instead bowed again, smiling softly as if trying to look friendly. "It has been gifted to me, Your Majesty, and I've called you here because I know of your relation with the Winter Frost Mage."

'I don't know how they know each other…but judging from Greed's reaction, they must be hostile!'

Mammon didn't say anything for a moment before turning back towards Theodore with a confused look on his face. "What is this bastard talking about? Winter Frost Mage?"

"That's me."

"Ah, so he probably wants me to kill you for him."

"Probably," Theodore shrugged as his eyes went to his side, specifically he was looking at the timer for the debuff, which was slowly ticking towards the forty second mark. "By the way…All demon king's treasury is always kept in the demon realm, right?"

Mammon didn't need any further elaboration, he turned towards Charles with anger practically visible in his demonic aura. "You filthy human dare to steal from my treasury!?"

Charles immediately began to panic after feeling Greed's rage. "N-No, Your Majesty! I wouldn't dare—"

"To continue lying despite this."

Unfortunately for Charles, every demon king has a built-in lie detecting skill, once it's activated, no matter how good one's acting skills are, the soul cannot lie.

[Lord of Souls.]

The coldness in the demon king's voice caused Charles and his acquaintances to flinch, immediately he knelt down and held the sword above his head. "I…I've committed a great sin, please have mercy on this lowly human."

Greed took his weapon back before glancing behind him, looking towards Theodore though he was still talking with Charles. "Tell me the truth."

"I…" It took him a moment, but the swordsman eventually spoke. "I've found this sword inside one of the dungeons I've been to…it was kept hidden in a secret room—"

"Enough." With one word, the Covetous Sword moved through the air and cleaved Charles' head off of his shoulder, it flew through the air before falling onto the ground along with the body a few seconds later.

Silence fell as blood began to pool around the corpse, but it didn't take long until the remaining S rank awakens began to act.

Richard was the first to move, though without his weapons he made the only logical choice, which was to run. With the help of his Crimson Wind Scarf, he increased his speed to the max and ran towards the door, ignoring everyone that might be blocking and disappearing from sight completely.

"Hey Mammon," Theodore spoke.

"What?" The demon king replied through his gritted teeth, clearly annoyed.

"Mind chasing that cockroach for me?"

"And why would I do that?"

"Hm…" Theodore thought about his answer for a moment. "Now that I think about it, we didn't get to have a proper fight in the Hall of Sins."

Once again, Greed didn't need to be told anything else, a smile crept up on his face as he turned towards the entrance. "You sure know how to negotiate, very well."

It didn't take long until Mammon disappeared from the grand hall too, plunging the atmosphere in total silence.

Eventually, Theodore turned towards the last remaining S rank, Noah, and spoke to her calmly. "Now then…What business do you have with me?"

The mage's eyes twitched slightly, as if surprised by Theodore's words. "...What do you mean?"

"Noah Redfern, you're a lightning mage," His golden eyes gleamed when he spoke. "But what you just cast…That's not an advanced spell, it's a 'Unique Spell'."

"..." Noah certainly didn't expect him to say that, though she kept herself from showing it on her expression and remained calm. She didn't keep quiet for long though since she thought there was no point in stalling. "Of course you would notice it, let me introduce myself officially then, I am—"

"Isis, Goddess of Magic."

The entire hall erupted in an uproar instantly, the awakens whispered to each other in confused and amazed tones, some were in disbelief that a goddess of all people had been walking among them this entire time.

Theodore secretly wondered what would happen if he revealed that he was a god too?

Noah—Isis' lips curled up into a soft smile, she gave him a curtsy before speaking, this time her tone changed into a lower pitch, giving off the feeling of command to everyone who hears it. "Because of this body's limitations, my magic was weakened along with it, but to think that you could still recognize a Unique Spell…"

"Shouldn't we talk somewhere else?" Theodore cut her off and looked at his friends by the door. "Merlin, Eugene, tie these idiots up and guard them."

"O-Okay." Merlin swallowed an invisible lump down his throat as Eugene grabbed the near-death S ranks by the nape of their clothes, the rest of the heroes helped out too and it didn't take long until everything became organized again under Frey and Hina's leadership.

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"I'm sorry we couldn't help out at all," Frey spoke while dusting his hands.

Not counting Vincent, who was still fast asleep due to the spell, a total of six S rank awakens were heavily injured during the fight. Among the ten of them that came together, only the holy knight and the spellblade, Cole and Charles, were dead.

Theodore shook his head and waved. "It's fine, if anyone had jumped in they would be more of a hindrance than help anyway,"

Merlin massaged his neck and gave his best friend a worried look, eyes momentarily landing on Isis, who was waiting by the door. "Theo, is this okay…? Isn't Isis supposedly allied with Ra?"

"...I don't think you've read Egyptian mythology." Hina couldn't help but huff, finding Merlin's statement to be funny. "Isis poisoned Ra once, you know?"

"But…But still! They could've made up! The truth doesn't necessarily follow the mythologies we know!"

"Merlin's right," Theodore crossed his arm, at that point his wounds had already healed up and he'd given the two swords from earlier to Eugene, who was examining it with great interest, it seemed that he liked the edgy weapon's design. "Though it won't stop me from trying to talk to her, if she'd wanted to harm me, she wouldn't need to go through all this trouble."

"Theo, did you already forget that she attacked you?" Merlin's brows slightly furrowed.

"It's different, the spells were weak…" Theodore barely felt anything from her lightning attacks. The Unique Spell did hurt quite a bit, but since its power had been reduced to advanced-spell-level, it still wasn't a big threat. "Anyway, just stay here, if Mammon comes back with the last guy then tie him up too."

"What about Mammon himself?" Frey asked, he looked like he wanted to say something else too but he held himself back, Theodore guessed that he was curious as to how he became acquainted with a demon king.

"Tell him to wait too, say that I'll get back to him after this, he'll either have to listen or he won't receive the end of our 'deal'."

With that, Theodore turned around and walked towards Isis, going past her without stopping as he looked for an empty room that they could talk in freely.

The goddess in Noah Redfern's clothing let out a sigh before following behind him. "I'm still surprised you noticed me, I even went through the effort of hiding my divinity."

Sometimes Theodore forgot that regular people can't see a skill or a spell's name, it was all thanks to the System that he was able to deduce Noah's identity in the first place. "You hid it well, but I'm known for my sharp eyes, you see."

[True Dragon Eyes.]

"Even a primordial dragon isn't on par with the gods," Isis frowned. "Is it because you're 'her' apostle? No—I can't call you a mere apostle anymore now, can I Apophis?"

Theodore didn't know how to feel about being called his mother's name. "...Let's get straight to the point: Why are you here?"

Isis would start to respond once they were finally seated inside one of the undamaged guestrooms. "I merely saw an opportunity, and now I'm trying to grab it before it's too late."

"Opportunity, you say? So you want to increase your power with human faith?"

"No," Theodore was surprised by Isis' reply. "The other minor gods of both Olympus and the Egyptian Sky didn't let it slip, but we, the main pillars, are more cautious and calculating."

"I can tell."

"...Anyhow," Isis ignored the interruption. "While gathering faith is important…there's always the risk of making other gods your enemy and upsetting the Scale by mingling with the mortal world too much."

"What are you trying to say here?"

Isis smiled as she clasped her hands together, resting them on her crossed legs. "It's simple, really: While the king is too distracted by the Chaos' Apostle, how about I usurp the throne?"

Theodore frowned. "Don't you already have enough power? You know Ra's secret name."

"It's not enough," Isis shook her head. "Even with his name, I still can't surpass that old man."

"What will I even gain from this?" Theodore raised an eyebrow. "How can I be sure that, after all of this is over, you wouldn't suddenly turn on me? How can I trust someone as power-hungry as you are?"

Isis' brows twitched, showing her frustration. "...I swear on my magic that I won't ever betray your trust, as long as you can successfully take that old king down."

"Of course," Theodore slightly crooked his head. "There's not a room for failure in my part, do what you want, I just need Ra dead."

Isis sighed. "Okay, good. Now that that's over with…I should let you know where to start looking."

"Ah, before that," Theodore cut her off, leaning forward slightly. "I have business to do with Zeus, mind if I get that over with first?"

Isis looked surprised, she pursed her lips before finally speaking. "Sure…I was just about to tell you how to get to the divine world."

"Oh?" Theodore was intrigued, he first thought of trying to visit Apophis through the dream method just like last time, but with Isis here then all of that might not be necessary.

'I could ask her directly through the System…But this is also a good opportunity to see if Isis' lying.'

"As a god, you can freely enter the divine world with a single thought," Isis began, though she left no room for Theodore to speak at all despite talking carefully so he wouldn't miss a single detail. "However, you must think of this trip carefully, since after your body gets accustomed to the heaven's energy, you wouldn't be able to come back to earth as its residence anymore."

Theodore had already expected something like this. Ever since he became a god, he'd been wondering how he was able to stay in the mortal world without breaking it apart like other gods.

'It's because this body's essence is still human…'

Going to the divine world would mean fully embracing his status as a deity, and hence he wouldn't be able to traverse freely between realms anymore.

"I just need to find a way." Theodore eventually spoke after a long time thinking to himself.

Isis sighed. "It's not that easy, if you're thinking of breaking the rules then the Scale of Balance will surely come after you."

"I know, I'm not stupid enough to do something like that…there's always the option of descension, right?" Theodore got up from his seat, heading towards the door and prepared to go back to the grand hall. "Let's just head back for now, I'll have to talk to my friends about this."

Isis looked like she wanted to speak up, but for some reason decided against it at the last second and simply followed him quietly back to the main group.

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"Ah! You're finally here." Mammon was sitting with his arms resting on the chair's backrest, he'd successfully managed to catch the last remaining S-rank, who was tied up and grouped with the rest of his friends.

Theodore ignored the demon king for the time being and turned towards Merlin and Eugene. "I need to talk to you two, step out for a moment."

"Hey! What about our deal!?" Mammon shouted angrily.

Theodore glared at him, getting annoyed that he was being pestered. "Wait."

Greed flinched by the unexpected hostility and lowered his head, muttering something under his breath in demonic tongue, but Theodore didn't bother to listen to it and guided his friends towards the corner of the grand hall.

"What is it?" Merlin asked once they were far enough from the main group, he casted a glance back towards the other heroes, who seemed to be doing much better now as they laughed and chatted with each other.

Theodore immediately got to the point, he first explained what he talked about with Isis before finally speaking about his plan. "...If I want to get back to earth, I would need to use a god's method of descension."

Eugene frowned. "Like what Ra did?"

"That was forced possession, I won't take over another person's body without their consent."

"Are there any other methods?" Merlin tilted his head.

"There's spiritualization…But that means I can't interact with physical objects…Another one is separating my body into multiple parts, basically leaving with only a percentage of my full power." Theodore had checked it using the System, since he'd absorbed the status of a god, gaining information had become a lot easier now.

[Warning! It is advised that you slowly consume God's Knowledge.]

[Warning! Eons of information can break your mind apart!]

He still had to be careful when asking something relating to gods or else he could risk too much information flowing out and flood his brain.

"The latter one seems best if you ask me," Eugene gave his opinion, from anyone's point of view, restricting the power level would be the wisest option.

"Well, there are some more methods," Theodore leaned against the wall. "Apparently possessing a dead body is also possible, it's just that the corpse must be used as a sacrifice to a god meant to take it over."

"...But you're not going to go with that, right?" Merlin sounded concerned judging by the seriousness of his best friend's tone.

Theodore shook his head. "Of course not, I'm just listing the possibilities."

"Thank god…" Eugene sighed.

"Anyway, I was actually thinking of the possession method."

"What!?" Both Merlin and Eugene exclaimed at the same time, causing Theodore to recoil his head back with surprise.

"What's up with you guys? Partial descension has a lot of risks, you know? First of all, if you can't hide your remaining powers well, others could come and steal it, this is especially true for me who doesn't have a domain in the divine world."

"But possession is…!"

"Theo! Think this through! Where are you even going to find a suitable person to possess?"

Theodore tilted his head and spoke as if the answer was obvious. "What do you mean, Merlin? You're a suitable candidate."

"WHAT!?"