His body was a grotesque display of brute force, muscles unnaturally swollen and bruised with a purplish tint straining against tattered rags.
Oversized hands with brutal claws hung low, and hooved feet left deep impressions in the soft soil of Veridia.
-I am under the order of the Demon Lord, Deimos, to test your strength,- Xar���gath said, his voice laced with a condescending tone.
-Your God should also join the fight, as you all are clearly not my match.-
-I alone am enough,- Nova said calmly, her eyes fixed on the grotesque figure.
A clone of Umbra, already present in Veridia, connected with Nova, providing her with two powerful buffs: one for strength and another for magic.
The remaining demigods didn���t stay idle. Though they had only a single talent to work with for now (since the 500-year mark for a new talent was not yet reached), they all began to attack.
As they collectively assaulted the demon, Xar���gath began to feel a sliver of pressure for the first time.
Just then, a screaming head of a creature flew out of Xar���gath���s back.
Every demigod jumped back, trying to guess what was going on.
The head flew directly towards them and exploded midair, a detonation of pure demonic energy that damaged many of them.
A single explosion was enough to take down a few, and Xar���gath still had 195 heads on his back.
The battle raged back and forth, a flurry of attacks and defenses. Xar���gath was now panting, with many of the heads on his back lost. Nova, even with her Absolute Defense, was disheveled.
Blood gushed from every corner of her body.
It was a clear testament to Xar���gath���s power, as all the other demigods were either blown to smithereens or badly wounded.
Only Nova and the demigod of the humans were left standing. Yet, Xar���gath still had 30 heads remaining on his back.
-Ahh, I really like it when I lose these heads. They are too burdensome to carry around,- Xar���gath said, his panting face returning to normal, his voice once again full of a terrifying glee.
It felt like he was toying with them, but only Sunny knew the truth.
Sunny opened the description of Xar���gath and saw that only 31 talents were now listed. And all of them were S-Grade or higher, unlike the talents of the heads he had lost.
-I would return to the demon realm for now, as your strength is clearly too weak,- Xar���gath said, and with a final, condescending glance, he dissolved into nothingness.
Sunny heaved a sigh of relief and immediately used a billion faith points to return the bodies of all the demigods to normal.
Many were still in shock from the explosions that had blown them apart.
Others, however, were filled with a burning, righteous fury, resolute on taking revenge against the demon that had just came to bully them.
Chapter 66: Ch 66 : Mammon, The sin of Greed
Sunny observed the receding form of Xar���gath, a cold smile forming on his lips.
He knew the reason for the demon���s abrupt departure.
-He didn���t want to lose those last 30 talents, did he?- Sunny thought, a feeling of amusement washing over him.
The demon���s boastful talk now seemed like the desperate actions of a cornered beast trying to preserve its last ounce of strength.
-If you think you can survive after taunting and fighting with my lifeforms, then you are so wrong,- Sunny said aloud, his voice resonating with divine authority as a truly devious plan began to form in his mind.
His hands moved as he manifested a divine embryo, a swirling vortex of energy.
With his very thoughts, he began to shape the embryo.
It twisted and contorted, slowly morphing into a figure of malevolent grace and sinister authority.
It stood tall with a slender, yet powerful, build, draped in an exquisite, dark suit adorned with intricate golden patterns and luxurious fur trim.
Its long, black hair flowed down from beneath a crown of elegant, bat-like horns, framing a mask-like face that was both skeletal and aristocratic.
Its eyes burned with a piercing, hellish glow, a stark contrast to its dark skin and the long, sharp claws that extended from its slender, gloved fingers.
Ornate gold chains and rings dangled from its person, giving it the appearance of a dark king or a noble from a forgotten realm, ruling with cunning and overwhelming power.
Now, it was time to make this demigod stronger and fill it with many talents.
Sunny wanted the best, and he was ready to spend all his faith to create this anomaly. This time, he started with the name first, as deciding on the optimal talents would take some time.
-Mammon, the Sin of Greed.-
On the other hand, in the human capital, Anaske, ran towards his father, Thorn, who looked more and more disheveled with every passing second.
Thorn was brought back to the human capital, where the demigod of fairies performed light magic to heal him.
But all the efforts were for naught.
-He has lost all his strength and has reverted to an ordinary human,- the demigod of fairies sighed, her voice filled with sorrow. -He will be able to live for only one or two more months.- This statement broke Anaske���s heart.
He yearned for revenge against the demon, but he knew his own strength was too weak.
Just then, Uranus and Gaia, the demigods of life, entered the hall where everyone was present.
-Do not worry, human,- Uranus said, his voice as serene as a clear sky.
-With our help, and his immense merits for Veridia, he will be reborn with a better body and a greater talent.-
Anaske was shocked. -Reborn?- His mind was thrown into disarray.
The thought of his father being reborn into a new body, and potentially becoming younger than him, was a disorienting paradox.
Anaske bowed, his head nearly touching the floor, and thanked all the demigods present, for he knew that without them, Veridia would have been nothing but dust.
The demigods left the castle and returned to their own places, leaving Anaske to look upon his father, his heart filled with sorrow.
He decided to spend the next few months with his father, as two months in Veridia were just six days in the Realm of Advancement.
Sunny disliked the notion of Thorn dying, but he knew he couldn���t do anything about it.
No worlds currently possessed items that could restore someone to their peak condition.
Even if Sunny were to create a new demigod to heal Thorn, his power would still be lost, and he would only be able to live an ordinary life.
-I think letting him be reborn is a good choice,- Sunny said, his eyes returning to the divine form of Mammon.
Sunny was still deciding on the talents for Mammon.
He wanted Mammon to infiltrate the demonic realm, so he decided on the Legion-Born talent first.
This talent creates an aura around Mammon that makes everyone, even the top-tier demigods, feel that he is a Legion-Born demon.
Since there are only seven Demon Lords in the entire demonic realm, finding a counterfeit would be impossible for them.
The next talent was Greed-Collector, a sinister talent similar to Shenlong���s hope-collector.
This talent allows Mammon to sense the greed of anyone towards the thing they desire most.
Mammon would give them that thing through Thea���s manifestation, and in return, upon their death, everything they had would be collected and returned to Mammon.
The true crux of this talent lay in the word ���everything,��� which included their luck, fate, talents, identity, body, and soul.
Those who traded with Mammon would be consumed entirely upon their death, unable to even be reincarnated.
And Mammon would only grow stronger as he collected more and more talents.
This cost Sunny 18 billion faith points, but in his eyes, it was worth it.
The third talent Sunny gave him was Intuition, a sixth sense so strong that it would allow Mammon to easily avoid dangers and turn every move into an opportunity, as he would already know the right option through his intuition.