Hades teleported them to an area with a system of over a dozen asteroids orbiting a larger, star-sized one, all saturated with the energy of the law of gravity.
'The absurdities one sees in the universal sea, huh?'
Hades sighed as he dodged floating orbs of pure magic power that occasionally fired beams of disintegrating light in his direction.
**BOOOMMMM!!!
The asteroid he was on was obliterated as his assailants, having recomposed themselves, attacked simultaneously.
Hades knew he couldn't worry about his artifact's remaining charges and returned it to his subspace before blocking a scythe imbued with death-attributed divinity, slicing down from above with one of his swords.
Since he wasn't going all out for various reasons, Hades realised he'd have a difficult time handling these gods.
Sighing once more, he raised the empty hand that had held the orb and fired basic dark magic—dark bullet spells—toward Gollmiran.
Even though the magic was basic, the one casting it was anything but. A single bullet that struck Gollmiran nearly severed his wrist from the rest of his arm.
"Guh!"
Gollmiran grunted in pain as he retreated, leaving room for the god of space to launch his attacks. Snapping his fingers, the space god sent all of Hades' dark bullets back at him, striking him in the face with no time to dodge.
Another god, skilled in close combat, slipped into Hades' range and landed a punch imbued with magic power on his chest.
**BAM!!
An omnidirectional shockwave erupted as Hades was sent flying toward another asteroid at a speed far beyond that of sound.
|Authority of Flames: Flame Gospel|
As those words rang out, a tornado of flames, enhanced by divinity, slammed into Hades.
**BOOMM!!!
The spinning tornado acted like a propeller, accelerating his fall and causing him to crash onto another asteroid, destroying more than half of it in the process.
|Hahahahahahaha!!!!!|
A boisterous laugh echoed as Hades rose from the debris of the shattered asteroid, almost unscathed, his superficial healing while he laughed.
|Good! You should be able to do at least this much, or it wouldn't be useful fighting you!|
His body suddenly grew, reaching over two meters tall.
Hades then mirrored the magic god, summoning orbs of darkness that floated around him while firing beams of dark light at all the other gods except Gollmiran.
|Young god of death, you wanted to prove yourself, right? Come at me then.|
Gollmiran roared in rage, turning into a streak of light that crossed the distance in less than half a second, his body also growing to match Hades' new size. He swung his scythe toward Hades, who noted how weightless the giant weapon seemed.
'Well, he is a Superior High-Tier. The weight is probably nothing to him.'
Pivoting on his foot, Hades raised his first sword to parry the attack and to have the orbs of darkness fire a few beams of light at Gollmiran's unguarded body. However, as the scythe met the sword, it glowed faintly before phasing through the first sword effortlessly.
Hades had anticipated something like this. After all, the weapon of a Deity would hardly be ordinary.
It was bound to possess unusual abilities, and although encountering one with a refraction property was rare, he had already prepared, moving his second sword toward the scythe.
**CLANG!!!
|!|
Startled by the unexpectedly strong recoil, Hades gritted his teeth and tried to redirect the scythe as best as he could.
With enough force to shatter the remaining half of the asteroid beneath them, the scythe crashed onto the ground. The impact made Hades lose his footing, but a being of his level was capable of flight, so he simply commanded the orbs of darkness to fire as his body naturally floated in space.
'Oh...fuck.'
Hades cursed under his breath as he looked at Gollmiran's body, only to realise that the beams of dark light he fired barely affected him despite penetrating his armour.
Gollmiran grinned and reached for Hades' head, but Hades wasn't about to let him get his way, so he immediately increased the distance between them, inadvertently giving Gollmiran's followers—who had held back earlier to avoid friendly fire—a perfect opportunity they couldn't miss.
|Authority of Ice!|
The magic god called out as chains of ice erupted, binding Hades in place. The chains latched onto a nearby asteroid while the god on that asteroid ran up the ice with a sword in hand, aiming to deliver a fatal strike to Hades.
|Tsk...|
The sword-wielding god clicked his tongue as he jumped off the chain, narrowly avoiding the burst of black flames Hades released from his body.
Surprisingly, the ice didn't melt immediately like Hades had anticipated.
|Surprised? Want to know why?|
The magic god asked, clenching his fist as the ice binding Hades' body thickened. Another god then created a giant palm of pure light magic and slammed Hades' body toward another asteroid.
Hades smashed through the first asteroid, shattering it completely, before crashing onto another and breaking off a quarter of it. More chains of ice and metal erupted from the ground, wrapping around him and keeping him pinned long enough for another god to strike.
Even if he regenerated the damage from the ice and smashed through the asteroids, it didn't matter to them.
They could attack again, after all, there were ten of them and only one of him. They had the advantage in numbers and were using it efficiently, as two others began charging powerful long-range attacks.
A god with a cloning ability landed on the asteroid Hades was chained to and dashed at him alongside his clones, weapons in hand, before slashing down at light speed.
|Authority of Flames|
Black fire erupted from Hades' body, melting the ice and metal instantly as he snapped his head toward the real body among the numerous clones.
|Fool, did you think I'd be tricked by mere clones?|
His calm voice rang out as he kicked off the ground and blitzed toward the true body. Realising their plan had failed, another god summoned a bow, nocked multiple arrows, and fired them at Hades.
The arrows all aimed for Hades' vitals, but his body flickered away, dodging them with ease. He then reappeared behind the clone god and slashed at his neck, only for his sword to be blocked by a scythe descending from above.
|Authority of Shadows|
Gollmiran activated an Authority, but Hades flicked his fingers, and a dome of darkness instantly enveloped the duo.
Multiple magic and divinity-based attacks struck the dome, shattering it almost immediately, yet Hades was nowhere to be found after it collapsed.
Gollmiran narrowed his eyes, turning toward the close combat god and shouting,
|Your left!|
Understanding what Gollmiran meant, he instantly pivoted and threw an ether-filled punch to his left as the bow god nocked multiple arrows to fire in the same direction.
Hades' body flickered into view as he threw his sword at the bow god and used his now-empty hand to catch the fist aimed at his face.
A small shockwave erupted from the clash, pushing them both back a few dozen meters.
Gollmiran appeared at Hades' back, slashing multiple times with his scythe, glowing with an ominous red aura.
|That doesn't look good.|
Hades said as he released a burst of divinity to disperse the aura, then turned and used his sword to block each slash one by one.
He raised his second hand, signalling for his second sword to return, but the space god, who had been unusually silent, snapped his fingers, teleporting the sword elsewhere.
|Authority of Space: Void Hole|
|Authority of Slaughter: Slaughter's Sword|
The two Authorities were activated by the space god and one of his companions, and a blood-red aura instantly wrapped around the three gods surrounding Hades.
Their attacks became twice as destructive as before, each dealing a significant portion of soul damage.
The close combat god punched forward, sending a fistful of red and gold divinity toward Hades, the bow god fired multiple arrows infused with green ether tinged with red, and Gollmiran's scythe unleashed slashes that threatened to sever Hades' head.
Since Hades was holding back most of his strength, it took everything he had just to contend with the three of them, leaving him unable to dodge when a wormhole suddenly opened behind him, sucking in both him and the three attacks from the surrounding gods.
Another wormhole appeared a short distance away, spitting Hades' body out. His illusory armour was cracked all over, golden blood flowing from the various wounds on his body.
The space god flicked his fingers again, and all ten gods appeared around Hades, launching attacks simultaneously.
'Just a little more, I'm getting the hang of it.'
|Authority of Darkness|
Hades finally activated his main Authority as darkness poured from his body, creating a dome that shielded him completely.
Multi-coloured strands of energy flowed into him as his wounds visibly healed. He ran a hand through his hair, wiping the blood from his face, before channelling the energy into his sword.
'Let's go, boys.'
The darkness dome shattered just as the asteroid beneath them couldn't withstand the force of the gods' combined attacks, and five blades materialised in mid-air, floating around him.
This was the effect of his Sword's Ability: five blades would appear before contact, striking the enemy five times with his base strength, and each successful hit converted a portion of the enemy's power into magic to heal his wounds.
A small shield of darkness hovered around Hades as he sent out three slashes from each blade in his hands. Three unlucky gods were instantly struck by the slashes, along with five others targeted by the swords' ability.
Gollmiran then appeared before Hades, using his scythe's refraction to phase through the mobile shield of darkness.
His attack nearly connected, but Hades pivoted and blocked it with his sword, the clash sending shockwaves that pushed the other gods back several thousand meters.
|Authority of Death: Withering|
With Gollmiran activating his Authority, which drained the life force of his target to make them shrivel and die, Hades' swords began to show faint cracks. It didn't affect Hades, as a layer of ambient multi-coloured energy, imperceptible to Gollmiran, surrounded his body and shielded him from the effects.
'Tsk...Despite his attitude, he really is a god of death. My Authority of Death isn't as strong, so I'll counter with my main.'
|Corrosion.|
With that command, Hades' already active Authority of Darkness siphoned Gollmiran's energy while corroding everything around him, from Gollmiran's scythe to his hands holding it and the space around them.
Sensing the danger, Gollmiran instantly backed away, prompting Hades to let out a small laugh as he conjured barriers of darkness to block the incoming flames, ice, and lightning.
'Let's start rounding up.'
Hades thought that as he filled his sword with enough divinity to annihilate the entire asteroid belt they were in, before sending out waves of corrosion.
One unlucky god wasn't fast enough to dodge, and his entire lower half was consumed by the corroding darkness. Hades didn't let the opportunity pass and blitzed toward the god at a speed that made light seem sluggish.
Before the space god could teleport him to safety, the god's head had already rolled from his neck. Hades' sword met no resistance, cutting through as easily as a knife through butter, except in this case, the "butter" was the neck of a Superior Stage Mid-Tier Deity.
Before the life faded from the god's eyes, Hades did something he normally wouldn't.
|Authority of Death: Soul Invitation|
This technique was wielded by users of Death Authority to retrieve souls for various purposes.
It was mainly employed by Main Entities governing Death and their subordinates to reclaim souls attempting to escape the Reincarnation Path or defy its cycle, but in combat, it could be used to seize the souls of incapacitated enemies.
The potential applications of the Authority Technique crossed Hades' mind as he filled his sword with enough divinity to annihilate the entire asteroid belt they were in before sending out waves of corrosion.
Gollmiran knew it well and felt nothing but pure rage after witnessing it used on one of his followers.
He understood the agony of having a soul ripped from a body, even more so for a Deity possessing immense life force.
Even if beheaded, a Deity could survive if the protective layers around their soul remained, but Hades severed that lifeline by using Soul Preservation, which extracted the actual soul after obliterating the layers of energy safeguarding it.
|GAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!||
The god's screams echoed in the ears of the remaining nine, stripping them of all restraint.
|You damned!!!|
Stellar-scale magic and divinity-based attacks, amplified by multiple Authorities, shot out at relativistic speeds, and though Hades retrieved the soul and moved quickly, he was still struck by multiple attacks.
|All of you, Domain combination! Now!|
Gollmiran commanded, and they all obeyed, deploying a mobile version of their territories: their Domains.
They had planned to hold off using it at first, thinking Hades wouldn't require such extremes. The death of one of their own, however, changed their minds.
Within a Deity's Domain, all enemies trapped inside had their power reduced, while the Zone's owner experienced the opposite. Additionally, Domains also had one or two special abilities that could be activated within.
Combining Domains amplified both the weakening and strengthening effects, depending on how many Deities were involved.
'Oh…shit!'
Being caught in their combined Domains weakened Hades, forcing him to curse inwardly as he tried to dodge the attacks flying toward him.
|Spatial Lock|
His movements suddenly stopped, and he didn't need to be an Einstein to know why. The space god had locked the space Hades occupied, preventing him or anything inside from moving.
Normally, this wouldn't hold him for long, but the Domain's weakening effect kept him in place just long enough for giant meter-long arrows of divinity to crash into his body.
**BOOOMM!!!!
Hades released a burst of divinity as he broke free from the locked space.
He felt intense heat behind him, only to turn and see a giant flaming meteor hurtling toward him at breakneck speed.
Darkness poured from his body, forming multiple shields, but the gods weren't about to let that happen easily.
Two gods in their true forms attacked simultaneously, slashing and punching him, drawing golden blood as the force of their combined attacks sent his body hurtling toward the meteor.
|Authority of Proliferation|
The resulting amplified explosion destroyed the entire asteroid belt, lighting up the dim space, leaving only the giant asteroid in the centre floating like a star.
Gollmiran flew into the blast, firing multiple magic missiles infused with the Authority of Death's Withering.
Hades was hit by the missiles, his body flung into the massive star-sized asteroid, but just before he crashed, a wry smile crossed his face as his body trembled slightly.
'Got it!'
**BOOOM!!!!
The gods wanted to finish him off, but Hades had already decided to stop holding back, knowing he'd be in mortal danger if he restrained himself any longer.
A burst of aura erupted from Hades' body as his divinity levels skyrocketed. Enormous amounts of energy swirled around him while his body lifted from the ground.
To the gods' shock, their combined Domain shattered, sending backlash that forced them to spit blood and grunt in pain.
Gollmiran froze as he felt his strength drain from his body, not concerned about the loss itself but about why the Domain had broken.
One of the few reasons for such an occurrence was the deployment of a stronger Domain by a higher-levelled existence than oneself within the same region of space.
He looked up to see a five-meter-tall man clad in armour of pure darkness, wielding a jet-black great sword, and atop his head rested the legendary artifact forged by the three cyclops brothers: the 'Helm of Darkness: Kynee.'
At that moment, Gollmiran realised he was facing exactly that situation.
||Domain Declaration: Underworld||