“Fuck!”
Mike cursed as he gasped for air, feeling like a drowning man who had just been pulled to safety.
*Damn it, playing dirty, huh?*
Mike never expected that just by glancing at the Demon Emperor’s Throne, the Supreme Demon God would seize the opportunity to tempt him.
This wasn’t Mike’s first encounter with the Supreme Demon God, but it was by far the most dangerous.
In the past, Mike had always been surrounded by top-tier protection. On the Tower of Truth, Apollo had been there to keep watch. The last time the Supreme Abyssal opened, Mike had wisely stuck close to Ares. Sure, there had been some negative emotions, but nothing serious. But as Mike’s power grew, his security hadn’t scaled up-in fact, it had downgraded! That’s how the earlier situation had unfolded. With various factors stacking up, Mike had once again found himself in a remote confrontation with the Supreme Demon God.
Even now, as he thought back on it, Mike couldn’t help but feel a lingering sense of fear. He sighed. “That was close. Too close.”
*Good thing my lightning skills are top-notch!* freewёbnoνel.com
Having shaken off the psychological shadow, Mike looked ahead and saw a massive crater in front of him.
Maxen’s full-force strike had left the area looking like it had been hit by a nuclear bomb.
Everything that could be physically destroyed had been obliterated.
Seeing the devastation, Mike couldn’t help but suck in a breath of cold air.
*Damn, that’s insane!*
After unleashing his attack, Maxen grinned sheepishly, looking as innocent as ever.
Ever since he had gained two Supreme Godfathers, there were very few enemies in the world that warranted his full strength.
“Big thanks!” Mike said righteously. “Consider your debt to me wiped clean.”
Maxen: ???
*I never owed you anything in the first place!*
As the two chatted, a battered and bruised Poseidon limped back over, his expression a mix of frustration and resignation. His eyes were filled with a deep sense of grievance, like a widow who had lost her husband thirty years ago. He didn’t say a word.
Earlier, Maxen’s playful punches had only left Poseidon with some minor injuries, and the matter could have been brushed aside. But then the Supreme Demon God had intervened, forcing Maxen to go all out. The resulting shockwave had severely injured Poseidon, leaving him in his current sorry state.
*Where’s the justice in that?*
To make matters worse, the little bit of wealth Poseidon had painstakingly accumulated was now completely gone!
“It’s okay,” Mike said, patting Poseidon on the shoulder in an attempt to comfort him. “You’ve hit rock bottom. The only way to go from here is up!”
Poseidon didn’t quite understand what Mike meant, but he had a feeling it wasn’t anything good.
“Why don’t you take a walk, clear your head?” Mike suggested, sending Poseidon off.
When it came to matters involving the Supreme Demon God, having Poseidon around just felt… off. After all, Poseidon was aiming to become a demon god, which meant that, in terms of faction alignment, he would technically be a follower of the Supreme Demon God.
Once Poseidon had left, Maxen turned to Mike and said, “Cedric’s on his way.”
The situation had escalated quickly, but with Thor and Maxen having already dealt with the problem, Cedric didn’t need to rush.
“I didn’t expect to get such a surprise the moment we arrived in the Eighth Abyss,” Mike said with a bitter smile.
No matter how much he tried to overestimate the Supreme Demon God, he always ended up underestimating him.
In the past, the Supreme Demon God had been sealed away, lost in thought, and his presence hadn’t been particularly strong. Three hundred years might have felt like a mere nap to him. But with the human race’s Supreme Beings emerging one after another, and with a major battle every century, the Supreme Demon God had begun to feel threatened.
That’s why his actions had become more frequent.
This latest ambush was likely just an appetizer.
In the foreseeable future, the frequency and intensity of their confrontations would only increase.
For Mike, this was terrible news.
He could survive one attack, two attacks, even a thousand attacks. But the Supreme Demon God didn’t care.
The Supreme Demon God only needed to win once.
Mike could win countless times, but if he failed even once, all his efforts would be for
nothing.
“This guy is too dangerous,” Mike muttered, feeling like he was Frodo, holding the One Ring, constantly under the watchful eye of the final boss.
The problem was, Mike didn’t have any way to fight back!
“Think of something positive,” Maxen said, noticing Thor’s frustration and trying to cheer him up. “I recently made a new friend. He’s a great guy. I’ll introduce you sometime.”
Mike: …
*Should I tell him that his new friend is my disciple?*
Mike casually asked, “Is your friend rich?”
Maxen: ???
“He’s broke. Dirt poor!” Maxen quickly added, “But don’t worry, once he has some money,
I’ll introduce you two.”
*I can’t let my buddy Light Nine fall into the same trap I did by getting too close to Thor!*
Ignoring Maxen, Mike turned his attention back to the massive crater and began pondering a
question.
*Why is Maxen so strong?*
“It must have something to do with his talent…” Mike had asked Maxen about this once
before.
As the godson of two Supreme Beings, Maxen had some secrets that even the Eye of Truth
couldn’t fully reveal.
With nothing better to do, Mike asked again, “Stone, what’s your talent called?”
Maxen answered without hesitation, “One with All.”
*One with All?* Mike’s interest was piqued. “Explain it in detail.”
If Maxen didn’t elaborate, Mike might think he was just making things up!
Of course, Mike trusted that Maxen wasn’t the type to lie.
With nothing else to do, they might as well chat for a bit.
“It’s actually a pretty simple SS-grade talent,” Maxen said modestly. “When I activate it, I
can stack all the skills I’ve learned into a single move.”
Mike: ???
*All the damage, effects, buffs… everything stacks together?!*
Mike realized that Maxen’s talent was far more powerful than he had imagined.
“It’s not as strong as you think,” Maxen said, noticing Thor’s misunderstanding. He patiently explained, “When I use One with All, I have to bear the cost of all the skills at once. It’s a huge
burden on me.”
Maxen had originally trained as a swordsman, and under Ares’s guidance, he had learned over
30,000 sword techniques.
If he combined all 30,000 techniques into a single strike…
Just thinking about it was terrifying!
But according to Maxen, trying to combine all those techniques would likely kill him from the
sheer cost.
Mike suddenly had a realization. “Wait a minute, is that why your godfather doesn’t let you
use a sword?”
“Is that it?” Maxen paused, then smacked his fist into his palm as if he had just had an
epiphany. “So that’s why!”
Mike: …
*So Maxen didn’t even know the reason?*
“Here, have some popcorn,” Mike said, pulling out two bags of popcorn. The two of them sat
on the rubble, munching away as they chatted.
“So, does that mean you can use sword techniques with your flail?” Mike asked.
“I can, but the power is only about one-tenth of what it would be with a sword,” Maxen
explained.
Of course, the energy cost was also only about one-tenth.
With that, the mystery was solved.
Maxen’s incredible strength came from his talent, which gave him nearly limitless potential.
Ares’s decision to forbid Maxen from using a sword also made sense now. If Maxen, who
hadn’t yet reached Ultimate Lord, picked up a sword and tried to use One with All, he’d probably die before he could even unleash the attack.
“I knew it! My second brother wouldn’t forbid his godson from using a sword for no reason!”
Mike declared.
Maxen’s head filled with question marks.
*Why does that sound so weird?*
*Is something off here?* Sensing the awkwardness, Mike quickly changed the subject. “By the way, Maxen, can you
create your own skills?”
“Not really,” Maxen admitted, shaking his head. That was one of his weaknesses.
Mike understood.
Maxen was a practical guy. He used whatever worked. He could follow a blueprint and build an
aircraft carrier by hand, but if you asked him to design one from scratch, he’d be completely
lost.
In another era, Maxen might have been in a tough spot.
There were only so many sword techniques in the world. Once he learned them all, there wouldn’t be much left for him to do.
But Maxen had been lucky enough to meet his Second Godfather.
Ares, through his own efforts, had created countless skills, many of which were sword
techniques!
And so, the harmonious scene before Mike unfolded:
Ares would create new techniques, and Maxen would follow behind, learning them all-
except for Golden Abyss, of course.
In short, Maxen had definitely gotten a good deal by becoming Ares’s godson.
“Look at you, so unambitious,” Mike said, shaking his head in disapproval. “Can’t you try to
create some skills of your own?”
Maxen protested, “Do you think creating skills is easy?”
“Isn’t it?” Mike started counting on his fingers. “So far, I’ve created at least three skills. How
about you?”
Maxen scoffed, completely unfazed. “You’ve only created three more skills than me. What’s there to brag about?” Mike had only been at it for two months and had already created three skills.
“Maxen, how long will it take you to finish learning the remaining 70,000 skills?” Mike asked
suddenly.
Maxen had mentioned before that Ares had created 100,000 skills, but Maxen had only
learned 30,000 so far.
Munching on his popcorn, Maxen replied cheerfully, “It’ll take a while. My Second Godfather
hasn’t even…”
Before he could finish, a streak of sword energy shot toward them.
The person hadn’t arrived yet, but the sword had. Maxen tossed his popcorn into the air, and each kernel was infused with a bit of sword energy,
forming a tight sword formation that trapped the pale blue sword energy and slowly wore it
down.
Mike, watching from the sidelines, couldn’t help but be impressed.
Cedric’s sword energy was quickly neutralized by Maxen, but Maxen’s earlier words were
swallowed back down.
“What happened here?” Cedric asked as he landed, surveying the wreckage with a frown.
He hadn’t expected that even with Thor and Maxen traveling together, they would still be
ambushed.
This wasn’t the work of an ordinary demon god!
After explaining the situation, Cedric’s frown relaxed.
“So, what’s the plan now?” Maxen asked, looking to Cedric for guidance. “Should we
retreat?” Cedric chuckled. “If we needed to retreat, your friend here would’ve already run off.” Maxen blinked in surprise. *That’s true!*
He turned to Thor and asked, “Yeah, why didn’t you run this time?”
“Sigh,” Mike sighed, shaking his head. “If I could run, I would. But take a guess-who’s
waiting for us outside the void?”
Maxen snorted and looked up at the sky.
A blood-red phantom rose from the ground, revealing his noble Supreme Son status.
Maxen’s voice echoed across the Abyss.
“Who’s the fool who’s not afraid of death? Come out and let me see you!”
A voice answered from the void.
“I’m the fool who’s not afraid of death.”
It was the Fifth Demon God.