Undying Warlord

Dilan unleashed the power of the 73rd Slash of Destruction Sword Style, Godslayer, while he was only at the standards of an Ascender at the mid-range of the fourth Tier.

Even he had trouble accepting the fact that he had truly done it, but looking at the destroyed Shadow Essence Crystal of the Shadow Demon God, it had to be true.

"Is he dead?" Dilan asked without any interest or remorse. He looked down at his trembling hands, unable to hide his exhilarated smile.

He defeated the first Lesser God without utilizing any petty tricks, or after getting killed and tortured for several years.

'Without any tricks…just with my own powers…the power of my future Divinity, and the teachings of the last ten thousand years…'

Dilan clenched his fists so hard that his fingernails sliced into his palm. Warm blood oozed out of his clenched fist and it trickled down to the ground, but Dilan didn't even notice the pain.

He was too lost in thought, recalling every single moment of the battle against the Shadow Demon God. The battle might have lasted only for a few seconds but every single second of that had been imprinted in the depths of his consciousness.

Defeating the other Lesser Gods might have been a great achievement as well, but Dilan was the most satisfied with his performance in the 49th round of the Trial of Power!

"No, he will be moved back to the City of Trials, just like the others," The Oracle answered all of a sudden. She landed in the Colosseum's Arena, and golden particles spread all around the Shadow Demon God and the destruction behind the corpse when she waved her arm.

It was a simple motion but the Oracle's wave was enough to teleport the corpse out of their sight and repair the arena at the same time.

'What a show off…'

Dilan could tell that the Oracle had been keeping a distance from him and that she was rather cold, to him specifically. He didn't feel much different about her, so their feelings of discomfort and a tiny amount of dislike were mutual.

However, Oracle's behavior had changed a little bit. Looking at her, Dilan could tell that she now maintained an even bigger distance from him than before and that she was being more polite to him.

It was as if he had gained her respect all of a sudden…or her fear!

That was weird, but it was not as if it would change anything for him.

"When I defeat the Lesser God on the 50th Floor, I will finally be able to get my True Destruction Trait, and the Soul Weapon, Oricalm, of course, right?" Dilan asked to make sure that the deal was still intact.

He also wanted to figure out if he would fight a True God's Soul Shard or a Lesser God, but the Oracle began to shake, startling him.

Her hair fluttered all of a sudden and an expression of great surprise and…joy could be seen on her face.

'Is she smiling? Did she finally lose a screw?' Dilan thought in bewilderment, not understanding what was going on.

"Your next opponent will be much more interesting than a Lesser God, or the Soul Shard of a True God!" The Oracle exclaimed, clapping her hands excitedly, all signs of the overly polite attitude she had shown before wiped away from her demeanor.

But Dilan didn't think about that right now. He was only conscious of the Oracle's overjoyed behavior.

"So who am I going to fight?" Dilan finally asked the most important question.

"We have a special guest in the realm of the forgotten time! He came for his second Godly Trial after advancing his Mana Core to the Deux rank… Nial Orin, the Eternal Darkness, has arrived!" The Oracle squealed in excitement and Dilan felt like he was looking at a young teenager girl.

The Oracle seemed excited to meet the Eternal Darkness and her attitude made it seem as if she had a huge crush on him, Nial Orin.

Dilan, on the other hand, was quite confused.

'I doubt that the Eternal Darkness will be stronger than the Shadow Demon God…if he is only at the Deux rank that means he barely created his Mana Core Sea… If I were to compare this to the stats of an Ascender, it would seem that he is on par with me…that is if he advanced to the Deux rank after enlarging his mana core nine times, creating nine Unique Origin rings and undergoing further means to build a perfect foundation before liquifying his Mana Core…'

Dilan knew quite a lot about the Cultivation progress of the Mana Core. This was mandatory to understand what opponents he could face as an Ascender, and who he had to be careful of.

Under normal circumstances, one could say that the first four Tiers of an Ascender's Essence Crystal were comparable to the first four ranks of an Original's Mana Core.

Only afterward would it be more difficult to say that an Ascender Demi God was comparable to an Original at the Keltia rank because the former would be stronger.

There were only seven Tiers for Ascenders, with the highest being that of a True God, but Originals had to advance a few more ranks before they could become True Gods.

On average, Originals were supposed to spend more time in an effort to attain the status of a True God. While that may be a fact, statistics revealed that Originals were stronger True Gods owing to their strategy of advancing one step at a time without rushing things.

But even if all of this were facts, it didn't mean that Ascenders were weak if they became Lesser Gods, let alone True Gods.

Thus, Dilan was getting confused.

"So instead of appointing another Lesser God to fight me, you want me to fight someone at the same rank as me?" He asked in confusion before he quickly added, "That doesn't mean I underestimate this Nial Orin, but I feel like you think too lowly of the Lesser Gods here…"

The Oracle was obviously excited, which could have multiple meanings. However, it was because of this excitement that the Oracle might miss out on the purpose of the Trial of Power.

'Well, I mean…I don't mind fighting someone at the same rank rather than a Lesser God. It's their loss,' He could only think, having no idea how wrong he was.

After all, he had never truly witnessed the power of a Lesser God.

It was not possible for the Soul Shards to use their powers properly as their Divinities were sealed and it was impossible to use an ability inside the City of Trials, if not granted special permission.

That was a matter of fact and a factor Dilan didn't think much about. He knew that he was not able to use his abilities and he had heard often enough that the Soul Shards were not able to do many things, since their bodies were somewhere else, and only a Shard of their Soul resided in the City of Trials.

"His foundation is strong. If you were to put it into stats, his Mana is several times stronger and purer than yours," The Oracle remarked, just to reveal the most troublesome fact that caused Dilan to realize many things he hadn't thought about before.

"And he is allowed to use his abilities, while yours will still be sealed!"