105%?!
This time, there was nothing to fear!
In fact, the faint yellow glow that had descended upon Mike was the effect of [Lyre].
Apollo never did anything unnecessary.
For someone like Apollo, who was currently in a critical phase of his own contemplations, every ounce of power was precious. Yet, he had chosen to use Lyre on Mike.
Didn’t that mean… Mike was truly in mortal danger this time?
Mike took a sharp breath.
Being a potential Supreme Being was truly a high-risk job!
Even with a 95% survival rate, there was still a chance of death.
Without Lyre, even with the [Supreme Mark Crest] on him, Mike might have fallen.
When Mike had spoken with Apollo on the ninety-ninth floor, Apollo had already known the
answer.
But he hadn’t said anything.
Because there was no need.
If Apollo knew Thor was at risk of falling, he would always do something about it.
And as long as Apollo did something, Thor wouldn’t fall.
So, there was no need to say anything.
To be fair, it wasn’t entirely Mike’s fault.
When Morpheus and Ares had ventured into Void Maelstrom, they were already incredibly powerful, both infinitely close to becoming Supreme Beings.
Mike, on the other hand, was punching far above his weight class, and the difficulty had been cranked up to an absurd level.
It would’ve been a miracle if nothing went wrong!
The Journey Begins
With four followers in tow, Mike followed the route he had planned in advance, heading toward the target location.
Before long, they arrived at a Teleportation Array.
After verifying their identities, the Lord guarding the array activated it, granting the group passage.
Although the Lord didn’t know their exact identities, their demeanor-especially the masked mage leading the group, whose aura hadn’t even reached the Lord level-made it easy to guess who they were.
Thor.
The Lord was visibly excited but refrained from making any further moves.
He had to maintain his composure.
After several teleportations, Mike and his group arrived on a small asteroid.
For beings of their caliber, moving in a vacuum environment was no challenge. Not long after they arrived, Maxen, Ace, and the Chaos Prince joined them.
The Chaos Prince instinctively approached the masked mage, intending to greet Thor.
Meanwhile, Ace and Maxen walked straight toward Gabriel, staring at his shadow.
After a moment, the shadow spoke:
“Was it that obvious?”
Both of them nodded.
The same trick, used too many times, had become predictable.
Mike realized it was time to update his tactics.
Having been exposed, Mike had no choice but to step out of the shadow.
The masked mage in the original five-person group had been one of Mike’s Puppets in disguise.
Looking around, Mike asked curiously,
“So, this is Void Passage?”
“To be precise, it’s the entrance to Void Passage,” Maxen replied, taking the lead as the group of eight began moving across the asteroid.
The journey was smooth and uneventful.
As the Supreme Son, Maxen’s identity carried significant weight within humanity.
The movements of humanity’s Supreme Beings were shrouded in mystery, and few ever saw them.
In a way, Maxen was essentially a representative of the Supreme Beings.
“Void Passage occasionally spews out void monsters. While most are swallowed back into the passage, some manage to escape. These must be regularly hunted down, or the consequences for Earth would be catastrophic,” Maxen explained.
“Currently, two corps are stationed nearby, with three reserve corps ready to deploy at any moment.”
Since the early days of the Blood War, humanity’s strategy had always been one of caution and preparation.
Under normal circumstances, defending Void Passage required only one corps. Humanity, however, had stationed five.
This was partly due to the unique nature of the area, which wasn’t bound by the Supreme Agreement.
Earth, the Abyss, Void Passage-humanity had too many fronts to defend.
A breach in any one of them would be catastrophic.
Mike frowned slightly.
“Why so many?”
Even with humanity’s current advantage, deploying five corps seemed excessive.
Maxen explained,
“Void Passage has been unusually active lately, so we need more manpower.”
“And before?”
Mike was puzzled. If it hadn’t been active before, why was it now? What had changed?
Carrying the golden tree on his shoulder, Maxen walked ahead, smiling without answering.
Yes, he was still carrying the tree.
The tree was just as heavy as when Mike had handed it to him.
Mike couldn’t bear to part with it, yet he also believed it brought bad luck. So, Maxen had
been roped into carrying it.
Mike quickly shifted his focus, asking curiously,
“Have you had any particularly unlucky incidents lately?”
Maxen shook his head, looking genuinely confused.
“Nope! Everything’s been great!”
He was eating well, feeling strong, and in excellent health.
Carrying the unlucky tree and still having such good fortune-Maxen’s survival was largely
thanks to Ares’s help.
The only “unlucky” thing might’ve been having to follow Thor into Void Maelstrom.
But that wasn’t something Maxen dared to say to Thor’s face.
“Strange… Could it be that this tree isn’t unlucky after all?”
Mike began to wonder if he should start believing in science again.
[Unlucky Index: 100%!]
Never mind.
Just looking at the tree made Mike feel unlucky.
As they continued forward, the closer they got to the passage, the fewer guards they
encountered.
It seemed everyone was deliberately avoiding certain areas.
Following local customs, Mike and his group also steered clear of those zones, though they
had no idea why.
“We’re here!”
Maxen stopped in front of a rift, standing as far north as possible.
Mike, naturally, followed suit, mimicking Maxen’s position.
The others followed Thor’s lead, creating a scene that was unintentionally comical.
“You asked earlier why there weren’t as many defenses before, right?”
Maxen was finally ready to reveal the answer.
Mike had a bad feeling about this.
It couldn’t be… related to that person, could it?
“Yeah,” Mike replied cautiously.
Maxen, clearly noticing Thor’s suspicion, nodded, confirming his guess.
Pointing to the farthest corner of the area, Maxen said slowly,
“Afterskin’s cryo-chamber used to be right there.” The atmosphere instantly turned unlucky.
But Maxen, still carrying the golden tree, remained unfazed.
With [Banish Misfortune] protecting him, he wasn’t worried about bad luck.
The others, however, weren’t so confident.
Seeing the group’s morale plummet, Mike silently retrieved Lilith, the golden pig, from his
private space.
Using Magic to Fight Magic
Mike rubbed the golden pig against himself before passing it around.
After his four followers had taken their turn, the Chaos Prince reached out to grab it, only for
the pig to jump onto Maxen instead.
Ace sneered,
“Do you think Thor’s blessings come for free?”
Sure, the four followers got to use the golden pig, but only they knew the price they’d paid.
If this mission weren’t so special, Mike would’ve charged them a fortune just for the privilege
of touching Lilith.
Of course, there was always time to settle accounts later.
The four followers understood their priorities:
1. Protect Thor at all costs.
2. Ensure their own survival.
3. Make as much money as possible.
The Chaos Prince scoffed,
“I’m an outsider, so it’s normal for me to be excluded. But you’re human-why are you
treated so poorly?”
Clearly, he was trying to sow discord.
Unfortunately, he’d picked the wrong target.
“You son of a bitch, is your brain full of shit?” Ace retorted, his tone dripping with sarcasm.
“Guess who teamed up with Afterskin the most during the Blood War?”
While it wasn’t exactly something to brag about, coming from Ace, it sounded almost
impressive.
Into the Void
With preparations complete, the group entered Void Passage in pairs:
– Mike and Maxen
– Dracula and Vladimir
– Gabriel and Sylvanas
– Chaos Prince and Ace
The pairings were deliberate.
Mike had to be with Maxen.
Dracula and Vladimir, both with 100% survival rates, could fend for themselves.
Sylvanas’s survival rate was now maxed out, tied to Mike’s. Pairing her with Gabriel allowed
them to gather more intel on the angelic race.
As for the Chaos Prince…
No one else wanted to team up with him, so he was stuck with Ace.
As they traversed the unstable passage, Maxen suddenly remembered something.
“Oh, right. My Second Godfather told me to tell you something.”
Mike was immediately on edge.
“Why didn’t you say so earlier?”
Maxen shrugged innocently.
“I forgot!”
Before Mike could press further, the two were pulled into the passage by a powerful force.
“My Second Godfather said @#$%@…”
The rest of the message was lost in the chaos.
But Mike wasn’t too worried.
With a 105% survival rate, what could possibly go wrong?
Void Maelstrom
After a dizzying journey, the two landed on solid ground, officially arriving at Void
Maelstrom.
Or rather, they landed in the middle of an ambush.
“Humanity’s potential Supreme Being… After so many years… Finally, another one has
come…”
“I’ve been waiting so long for this…”
“Let me kill you. Just once!”
The eerie sound of laughter echoed around them, a 3D surround sound effect that almost felt
comforting.
But when Mike saw the situation clearly, his blood ran cold.
Hundreds of crimson eyes locked onto them.
Behind each pair of eyes was an Ultimate Lord-level powerhouse.
The weakest among them was level 999.
The strongest? Three Void Fiends, each at level 1000.
The encirclement was airtight, like a tightly sealed bag.
And inside the bag? Thor and Maxen.
Even with all his preparations, escaping this was nearly impossible.
This was Void Maelstrom, after all.
The danger was immediate and overwhelming.
No wonder Mike’s survival rate had only been 95% despite all his efforts.
Maxen, still oblivious to the gravity of the situation, chuckled. “My Second Godfather said the most dangerous moment is right when you enter the
maelstrom!”