Roars of surprise and anger reverberated in the night, as the Celestial Army--that was several hundred meters away from the Heavenly Gate, fell into the pit that William and Sha had painstakingly created many days ago.
The two had made sure to dig deep enough around the Heavenly Gate so that all the guards stationed near it would be caught in their trap.
This also prevented the other Celestial Knights, who were stationed farther away from the Heavenly Gate, to reinforce their comrades from the boy who was currently hovering in mid-air, thanks to Sha's ability.
When their trap activated, William threw several yellow lollipops towards the giant that was blocking the Heavenly Gate with its body.
The lollipop looked so harmless, that the giant ignored them, and focused his attention on the hovering boy in the sky. The moment one of the yellow lollipops hit his body, a powerful force made him stagger, forcing him to take a step backwards.
The power of the yellow lollipop was a Knockback spell, which was similar to William's Magnum Burst. The only difference was that this spell disregarded the enemy's size, and strength. As long as it hits a target, that target would be knockbacked regardless of how sturdy or strong it is.
The Giant wanted to recover his balance, but William had perfectly timed the interval of the lollipops he threw. One could even say that the moment the first lollipop hit the Giant, his fate was already sealed.
The Giant was forced to take several steps back until his entire body passed through the Heavenly Gate.
Lily, who was watching William employ the power of her Divinity, jumped like a fangirl and raised her small fists as she shouted William's name.
The Giant wasn't the only one that was forced by Wiliam to enter the gate, The poor Crimson Knight was also pushed back along with the Giant due to that brief moment when they covered their eyes.
"Quick Shot War Art… Fusion Form." William said as he pointed his wooden staff towards the Heavenly Gate that was free from obstruction. "Blitzer Railgun!"
Earlier, William shouted his ability in order to make the Celestial Knights panic. He was only using a bit of Psychology in order to force them to make choices that would work in his favor.
Naturally, his efforts paid off and he was able to eliminate two of the greatest threats that prevented him from entering the Heavenly Gate, by using the white lollipops to blind them temporarily.
William's body merged with his staff, and it flew towards the Heavenly Gate at the speed of sound, which was now devoid of defenders.
The staff was about to pass through the portal when a golden shield, that had the emblem of the sun in its center, blocked his path.
William's fusion with the staff broke apart as he was repelled from the gate by a powerful force. He was about to fall into the same pit that he had dug earlier when a cloud of sand caught him in mid-air.
"Very good," a taunting voice said from behind the shield. "A being worthy to be David's successor. However, did you think that I would just sit back and watch you clear this trial, boy?"
William wiped the blood, that had emerged from the corner of his lips due to the collision against the Divine Shield that blocked his path, away. He then glared at the hateful God that had insulted Gavin in the Temple.
Lugh, David's friend, and one of the Gods that belonged to the Righteous Faction stared back at the young boy with a teasing smile plastered on his face.
"I wasn't able to put you in your place in the Temple because the Gods there need to follow certain rules," Lugh sneered. "However, inside this Domain, we are allowed to descend in order to test worthy souls and keep them from entering the Temple of the Gods. Don't worry, on behalf of David, I will beat you up, but still leave a breath in your body. This will be your punishment for insulting a God."
Lugh summoned his spear and pointed it at the pit that had trapped the Celestial Army. immediately, the ground rose up bringing the knights back to the surface.
The bewildered warriors looked at William before looking at the God that was standing right in front of the gate.
"Fools, what are you looking at?" Lugh scoffed. "Capture the boy and beat him up for me!"
""Yes!""
As soon as Lugh gave an order, the soldiers activated their Weapon Aura's and attacked William at the same time.
Facing thousands of energy attacks from all directions, Sha hurriedly pulled William away, preventing the attacks from hitting the boy. However, the Celestial Knights that could fly had already taken action and engaged the boy in the air.
"Quick Shot War Art, Fusion Form."
"Blitzer Railgun!"
William shot out towards Zhu and Sha who were standing in the distance. When he was close enough, he hurriedly cancelled the effects of the War Art Fusion.
Sha used his powers to catch the boy and prevent him from taking any further damage. The Sand Demon lowered William on the ground before checking his condition. Zhu, on the other hand, stood in front of the two and raised the rake in his hands as he took a fighting stance.
The Demonic Pig knew that the Celestial Army would not let the boy go after the embarrassment that they had suffered at his hand. Although William and him had a rough start, Zhu had recognized the boy's determination and tenacity.
He also cursed the Bastardly God, Lugh, in his heart for bullying a child. Zhu knew that a battle was inevitable, but he didn't mind. Even though he and Sha knew that there was no hope in winning against the Celestial Army, they wouldn't just stand by and let William get beaten up under their watch.
----
Meanwhile in the Temple of the Gods…
"You Bastard!" Lily roared in anger. "I'll beat the crap out of you!"
Lily's Divinity exploded from her body as she prepared to descend to the Heavenly Domain. Since Lugh had insulted Gavin, and tried to attack William, the Loli Goddess had added the Sun God to her Blacklist.
Although she belonged to the Neutral Faction, that didn't mean that she would allow other Gods to bully the boy that she had given her Divinity to.
Issei had already unsheathed the dagger in his hands and his eyes were cold and murderous. Just like Lily, he also planned to descend as well and stab the God of Bastards that dared to bully his younger brother.
William forced himself to stand by using the wooden staff in his hand. He knew that his trial was about to end, but he was unwilling to let it end this way.
At the very least, before all the bones in his body were broken, he would do his best to smash his staff into the God's face.
That is the only way that William could think of to erase the gloating smile on Lugh's annoying face.