The moment the monstrous fist crashed into Mithras' face, adamantine scales spread across his face, absorbing the enemy's blow. Tongues of scarlet flames erupted from Mithras' form, bursting alongside streams of vibration waves that sent the enemy figure flying back and prompted additional blasts of divine energies.
The scene became a mess of fire and collapsing stones. Mithras turned sideways, staring at the blood-colored ogre that had appeared where Lysander stood previously.
A blinding corona floated above the ogre's head, and it bumped its fists together, summoning a winged red armor encrusted with golden stones.
"A des…destiny beast?" From Honoria to the Red Priest, all people on the scene reeled back, closing their eyes to avoid eye contact. Mithras, however, scratched his head, facing the Destiny Beast with a helpless smile.
"Whelp, it came sooner than expected," Mithras whispered with a hint of bitterness.
Whenever Sages committed transgressions, they were subjected to the Weaver's Trials, captured by Destiny Beasts, and dragged to the Weaver's Dimension to stand trial for their actions.
The Weaver had a thing for mortals and was especially lenient towards them. So, the more mortal the sinner was, the better. Gods that committed a transgression would suffer brutal curses. Mortals didn't have a thing to worry about. But dragon-blooded folks were to be killed on sight by the Destiny Beasts. No trial needed.
Even demons had it better.
"Rrrrr…" With a low growl, the Destiny Beast raised its fists, summoning a large blood and gold hammer as it stepped towards Mithras.
<Name: Mithras>
<Race: Half Monster>
<Charm: Divine>
<Templar rank: twelfth level of Flame Refinement>
<Sid Level: 900 units>
<Mutation: Adamantine Dragon Horse (saint class)>
<Sid Flame: Wrathful God Fire (divine class) <> Pyrogasmic Genesis (divine class)>
<Ero Points: 122,300>
<Talents: Human Aphrodisiac <> Wisdom of the Slithering Emperor <> Netori Milk Fountain <> Thunderclap Talent>
---
<Name: Nameless>
<Race: Destiny Beast>
<Charm: Abomination>
<Templar rank: twelfth level of Inner Accumulation>
<Sid Level: 5,000 units>
<Gene: Great Smelting Hammer (saint class)>
<Mutation: Destiny Fiend (saint class)>
<Sid Flame: Great Blood Flame (king class)>
<Talents: Destiny Chart (saint class)>
'Triple saint…nice.' Though a Destiny Beast's powers were linked to the fate that caused its birth, Mithras didn't expect the Destiny Beast to come equipped with three saint-class attributes.
It seemed a bit excessive. Still, Mithras didn't lose his composure, casually falling into a battle stance.
"As expected, the first non-human sage to break a transgression in the last 20,000 years…had to be dragon-blooded. The children of Vritra truly are the scourge of the world. You carry divine power, two of the most exquisite divine flames, but you still had to rob a mortal's destiny?" The Destiny Beast asked in a gruff voice, disappointment in Mithras' actions obvious in its voice.
"Yes." Mithras replied without hesitation, prompting the Destiny Beast to lunge forth and swing its colossal hammer at Mithras' skull.
Mithras' lips curled into a smirk, and he raised his right hand, directly reaching for the hammer.
The audience couldn't believe it, the Destiny Beast even less, but as all expected Mithras' hand to get crushed into flesh and bone debris, the power behind the hammer vanished entirely. Worse, the moment next, the hammer started shrinking, turning into a needle-sized toy before dropping onto the ground.
Mithras pushed back, sending the Destiny Beast flying with a cartoonish surge of vibration waves.
"The Second Divine Secret: Reduction." The most experienced in the audience, the Red Priest recognized Mithras' ability, his eyes stretching at the realization that all along, he was standing in front of a sage.
"Humph!" The Destiny Beast wasn't impressed, and swung at the sky, causing a screen of blood-colored flames to form above the scene.
A barrage of blood fire bolts rained in the thousands, threatening to not only roast Mithras but also reduce the audience into ashes.
"Nope." With the same casual look, Mithras reached for the sky, and to the audience's shock, the fire bolts shrank into dust particles—vanishing subsequently.
"You can't sustain it!" Still, the Destiny Beast wouldn't give up. Domineering blood flames burst from its eyes, and it joined its hands together, firing a beam of hyper-concentrated flames at Mithras.
"True." With a mischievous smile, Mithras snapped his fingers, and in a burst of scarlet flames, the Red Priest appeared in the Destiny Beast's way.
Horrified, the Destiny Beast made a grasping motion, shifting the trajectory of its projectile.
Mithras snapped his fingers again, and this time, it was Arian who appeared in the Destiny Beast's way, throwing a desperate punch at the creature.
The Destiny Beast didn't even need to avoid Arian's insignificant move. But as if afraid of accidentally injuring the Astalon noble, it flew out of the way, making itself vulnerable to a smack from Mithras.
The Destiny Beast flew back, stabilizing itself high in the air.
"Yeah…I had a feeling you were so reckless before because you knew I still had more than enough energy to reduce your stuff into particles and wanted to distract me from the fact that…a Destiny Beast cannot injure anyone other than the sinner it came to capture. If it does it dies." Mithras shook his head, sighing at the Destiny Beast's predicament.
Underneath its helmet, the Destiny Beast's face twisted into an ugly grimace. But as it started considering ways to get rid of the audience, Mithras cracked his neck, flashing a wolfish grin.
"The Weaver sure is a dick. But don't worry, I won't use cheap tricks to deal with you." Here, Mithras balled up his fists, causing the Wrathful God Fire and Pyrogasmic Genesis to erupt at once, lighting up his body in a shroud of divine flames.
"I will just break you…with my fists." Mithras pledged and lowered his eyes. An explosion of divine flames took off at Mithras's feet, propelling him towards the Destiny Beast at a rocket's speed.
A new war hammer appeared in the armored creature's hands. Mithras' body turned sluggish, his blood crystallizing under the horrifying power of the Great Smelting Hammer.
However…
[Divine Burst]
Mithras whispered an incantation, and in a series of thunderous blasts, his Inner Flames propelled him faster upwards.
But the change didn't stop there. Mithras whirled on himself, becoming a torpedo of divine flames as he flew into the Destiny Beast, blasting through its left arm!
"AAAAARGH!" Watching its arm burn to a crisp, the Destiny Beast howled in grief. Mithras gave it a moment to process the pain, before smashing his knee into its liver and kicking it in the face.
Every one of Mithras' moves came with rumbling blasts, leaving trails of scarlet flames that drastically boosted his physical attributes.
"He's using the Red Cloud Temple's mantras?"
"No…the Red God's mantras!" The spectators went back and forth.
Meanwhile, Mithras smashed the Destiny Beast left and right, chipping at its armor with every blow.
Fearing for its life, the armored creature let out a shrill cry, causing a gray chart to emerge from the void, and nail Mithras in the air.
In that instant, Mithras saw his past replay before his eyes. His first life on earth, his second try in the Spiritual World, and the third that followed his resurrection.
Myriad possibilities based on various factors alternated in Mithras' eyes, culminating in three distinct destinies that all stared him in the eyes--compelling him to select one.
"It's over. My Destiny Chart has selected three possible futures for, two where you die, and one where you get crippled. You now have ten seconds to choose one at random, and watch it become reality. Don't worry, regardless of the result, I will be waiting at the end of the road to smelt you into a Blood Puppet.
Unlike Lysander, your body will not go to waste," the Destiny Beast said with a sinister look, and folded its arms, watching Mithras struggle to resist the power of destiny.
Or so it seemed at first. Because as the count neared zero, Mithras' lips curled into a playful grin, and he reached for the Destiny Chart.
"The tragedy in all this…is that I know everything about you. But you know nothing about me," Mithras said with a cheerful laugh and tightened his fists.
[Primal Strength]
Purple scales spread all over Mithras's arms, and his limbs extended, morphing into large dragon claws. But the spectators couldn't see this because, at the moment, Mithras had turned into a blinding sun, overwhelming the Destiny Chart with divine power alone.
"Imp…impossible!" The Destiny Beast couldn't believe it. And before it could react to this change, a burning bite-like sensation ran through its body, instantly making it go sluggish.
Only now did the Destiny Beast notice the tiny little dragoness standing on its shoulder, now injecting liters of red dragon venom into its bloodstream. Nagini had made her move, delivering a knockout.
"Hateful little…scoundrels." Choking with indignation, the Destiny Beast fell face-first, crashing towards the ground.
Mithras awaited underneath, sucking the Destiny Beast into the miniature sun, and placing an Immolation Mark on its chest.
"See, if a guy like me is dying to fight you, you should know that you're fucked. I didn't take this fight to impress the babes. It's only because I knew, without a shred of doubt, that I'd kick your ass and kick it badly.
But you were naïve. Thinking that because of your triple saint attributes, you could act a fool.
Jokes on you. I'm basically a quadruple god, and that's being humble," Mithras said in a jesting tone, and snapped his fingers, triggering the Immolation Mark.
The Destiny Beast turned into a ball of fire, howling in grief as its lifeforce became streams of Sid that poured into Mithras' body.