Undying Warlord

'Even if he is talented, he is nothing compared to Nial… How is he supposed to go up against the Veilures with that kind of strength?' The Oracle thought while she had been patiently observing Dilan's last fight against a Lesser God.

It may be a fact that someone with an Essence Crystal could advance to Godhood much faster than an Original with a Mana Core, but their foundation was usually weaker, which was also why they were required to become Lesser Gods before attaining Godhood for good.

This intermediate step between Demi Gods and True Gods was not something an Original with a Mana Core required. Yet, even then, it was much faster for Ascenders to advance through the ranks.

After all, they could absorb the Essence of other beings, which was not possible for ordinary Originals. Mana Cores couldn't simply get crushed and their mana devoured just like that.

That gave Dilan the opportunity to attain the strength to face Mythical Creatures at the fourth Tier only in a short span of half a year. The Primordial Ascension had occurred only six months earlier.

Nonetheless, the Oracle couldn't help but feel that the gap between the two Fate Changers' strength of the Universe's doom was too vast.

'I can feel the Universe's power within Nial, but I cannot even say what I feel about this one…why do I feel so repulsed. Shouldn't I feel close and comfortable with everything related to the Universe?'

While the Oracle was seated in the first row of the spectator's range, pondering about the thoughts that tormented her mind, Dilan paid attention to something else.

"So you're my final opponent? I wonder if that's a coincidence or not," Dilan said while looking deep into the ruby eyes of his opponent in the 49th round.

The Trial of Power chose Cedric, the Shadow Demon God, as his second-last opponent, which seemed to please the Lesser God a lot.

'He is only a Lesser God because his True Divinity was destroyed in the fight against the Silver Titan Dragon if I remember correctly…. Well, it was quite stupid to fight against an existence that can ignore the barriers in the void and travel through different Universes, to begin with.'

Dilan smiled when he recalled the story the Great Wise had told him.

Cedric noticed Dilan's smile and he took it very personally.

"What are you smiling at, fuckface?!" He barked like a dog would after someone stepped on his tail.

'Fuckface? That's definitely new!'

"I just recalled how you lost your True Divinity, truly a great story. I should write a poem on it…oh wait…someone already did!" Dilan continued mocking and provocating Cedric.

He reached for the weapon stand, and grasped a sword that was only a meter in length, including its handle.

There was nothing special about the blade itself. It had only one sharp edge, the blade was straight and the tip ended with a trailing point.

Dilan didn't know about the blade except for the material from which the blade was made of.

There was a specific pattern engraved on the blade and it radiated faint traces of a mixture of mana fluctuations which he had read about a long time ago.

But even if it had been quite a while, Dilan clearly remembered the content of the pages he had read, especially since it was something he could make use of very well.

'Ferulium Alloy is said to be indestructible and with power amplifying trait, sheer perfection as long as you have enough mana…and lifeforce!'

Ferulium Alloy had a vampiric trait that devoured the life force of the wielder. That was also why it was considered indestructible. Its endurance increased the more lifeforce and mana it devoured!

Dilan figured that it was the real deal the moment he grasped it and he didn't hesitate to make use of its traits just a moment later.

He stared at the Shadow Demon God and began to smirk. This was more than enough to further enrage Cedric and provoke him to charge and attack Dilan the moment the battle was to start.

The Oracle had manifested a countdown above the Colosseum's Arena and only three seconds were left before the 49th round would commence.

However, Dilan and the Shadow Demon God were already preparing for their attacks. Cedric's body enlarged and the shadows around him expanded as well.

The surrounding area turned into his territory and the Shadow Demon's gaseous form seemed to transform as well.

He turned into a body with bones, veins, muscles, and flesh, just for the gaseous shadows to cover his body like skin.

"Looks like someone is afraid that his Essence Crystal might get destroyed with a single attack!" Dilan joked once again, but the Shadow Demon God didn't take the bait.

Ruby's veins spread out from his eyes and his bloodthirst was unleashed all of a sudden. Dilan felt the animosity Cedric spreading through the surrounding, and his smile disappeared, or so it looked at least.

Secretly, Dilan was hoping that his schemes would work, and given that Cedric's ugly grimace morphed into a bright smile at the sight of Dilan's crumbling smile, that seemed to be the case.

Dilan exerted the Sword Style and summoned a layer of Destruction without wasting a second, and sacrificed the vast majority of his remaining Life force to engulf his sword with the Immortality Aura just a moment later.

Simultaneously, he was coming up with more options to make sure that he could deliver a pleasant present to the Shadow Demon God.

But for that, Dilan had to surprise the dear colleague opposite him first.

Closing his eyes, Dilan focused on his body and mind. He tried to reach the deepest parts of his subconsciousness. Somewhere deep down there was the knowledge of the roots of every Origin ability.

That was something Dilan had learned, and a means he wanted to make use of now that he could finally feel the True Essence of his future Divinity.

It made him feel excited, to the extent that he began to grin from ear to ear while unleashing the bloodlust he had contained within his body for the last 10,000 years.

Dilan knew that it was finally time for him to go all out and slaughter his opponents rather than allow the Lesser Gods to take him for a fool.

After a few dozen years of torture, Dilan had had enough. He knew that his Origin ability had evolved more than enough to provide him with everything he needed right now.

Thus, the moment the battle against the Shadow Demon God started, Dilan shot forward. He opened his eyes widely, allowing both the Oracle and Cedric to see the change in his eye color just before he collided with his opponent.

The Shadow Demon God ignored the silver eyes of Dilan, but the Oracle jumped up from the chair.

'What the hell?' She thought, her large violet eyes trembling in fear as she saw the outlines of an unfathomable monstrosity awakening from the depths of Dilan's body.

Adrenaline pumped through Dilan's veins as he activated the True Essence of his Divinity, unleashing the True Undying power.

Meanwhile, the Oracle stared blankly at Dilan and the vision only she could see unfolding around the seemingly tiny human being.

"So…that was it?... Hah…now everything makes sense…"