Planet Lubo.
Little mortal knocked on his crystal,
"Get it?"
The crystal vibrated.
Little mortal nodded,
"Okay, all the birthday gifts, gather.
We are going to start a meeting for my upcoming seven challenges."
Rows of silver chairs came out of the backpack, and the treasures sat down.
Little mortal was going to start, but two people arrived.
"Oh, Assistant Rose, Lady Immortal Manager,
Do you want to join the meeting?"
Immortal Manager smiled bitterly.
She was asked by the rest of the managers to come here and try to stop him from 'betting' on the whole universe with other higher beings in the name of challenge.
But she didn't expect to arrive when the meeting for the next seven challenges was about to start...
They weren't even done with the new one, and this little guardian was after more.
And the real problem was that he couldn't feel the specific changes happening to the world around him after each universe was added to the guardian territory.
They themselves didn't know what it was, though.
They asked the Guardian Token about it, but it stated that Guardian Mortal is the first person to become the guardian of the universe, let alone challenge other universes after that, so it didn't have any information related to these changes.
Either way, she came here to talk to him about it.
She even asked Rose to come with her on the way, because she understood her boss better than they did.
But now...
The two could only sit down.
Immortal Manager raised her hand,
"Secret Guardian, are these challenges necessary?
If not, I was going to ask you about something."
Little mortal nodded,
"It is necessary.
For two reasons.
First, the two old generation parasites in the little cage.
If I don't win more universes, then it can't keep them in.
Second, 6 out of these seven parasites that I'm challenging now saw something they shouldn't have.
I need to silence them.
If there is anything to talk about, let's do it after my challenges."
Immortal Manager looked at the cage that was shaking slightly, and then at the little guardian,
And asked,
"How confident are you, Secret Guardian?
I ask this because the whole universe, that I don't even know how big it is, is on the line now..."
Little mortal puffed his chest and answered with confidence,
"100%.
If you don't believe it, just watch my plan, and you know."
Immortal Manager raised her eyebrows,
"Let's see it then!"
Little mortal snapped his finger, and a whiteboard appeared for him to start writing his plan.
[ List of the opponents:
1 - The Gardener [Pan]
Former birth treasure -> World Tree
2 - The Mermaid [Amphitrite]
Former birth treasure -> Heaven's Tear
3 - The Troublemaker [Khali]
Former birth treasure -> Gauntlet of Disaster
4 - The Rock Thrower [Hecate]
Former birth treasure -> Starfall Stone
5 - The Chunk of Ice [Nejord]
Former birth treasure -> Frostveil Crystal
6 - The Puppet Guy [Viros]
Former birth treasure -> Puppet
7 - Grave Robber [Thanathel]
I haven't taken my birthday gift from him yet (outsider)
My teammates:
1. Punishment Stick
2. World Tree
3. Heaven's Tear
4. Gauntlet of Disaster
5. Full Body Armor
6. Starfall Stone
7. Frostveil Crystal
8. Silver Knife
9. Prophecy Orb
10. Space Mirror
11. Headband and Wristbands
12. Judge Hammer
13. Punishment Stick
14. Star Fusion
15. Soul Cube
16. Guardian Token
Helpful information that was confirmed in my previous challenge with the Politician:
- Higher beings who just resurrected are 20% weaker than usual
- The fighting ground for challenge is like the mainland,
And I can send secret messages for free.
- Parasites who lost their birth treasure are 20% weaker than usual.]
After he was done writing, he turned to the crowd,
"Everyone, as you can see, I and my 16 birthday gifts, who are coming with me, are going to face opponents with a 40% attack debuff.
With them being level 6, and me being level 89,
What do you think the chance of me winning is?"
Immortal Manager and Rose,
"-_-"
They looked at the chairs, and only now they remembered that every one of these treasures 'sitting' on these chairs was able to affect planets, if not solar systems, just by themselves...
What were they thinking when they thought he might put their world in danger?
And his opponents were already 40% weaker?
"Secret Guardian, what do you mean, 20% weaker after they resurrect?
Aren't they alive?"
Little mortal chuckled,
"I just sent them all back to the lobby.
So they are resurrecting now."
The Immortal Manager gulped down.
She knew by 'lobby' he meant their starting point, probably.
100% chance of winning?
You are just going to fight an opponent you already defeated!
And they are even 40% weaker...
That's 1000% winning chance.
Little mortal continued,
"Alright, now, let me explain our plan for the upcoming fights.
We have two versions of fighting.
The first version is before they are turned into puppets.
Second version after turning them into puppets.
Alright?
In the first version, we need to be cautious and use the element of 'surprise', which is the responsibility of my birthday gifts.
By the way,
Do you know what the element of surprise is?"
Rose answered,
"Like the fire element that burns everything.
The element of surprise can 'shock' everyone."
Little mortal gasped in 'shock',
"Assistant Rose!
You just used it on me!
That's why I was shocked..."
The Immortal Manager felt Rose was now completely in sync with this little guardian's line of thought...
She could guess what the 'element of surprise' was, but she didn't know he actually meant it as a real element like fire or ice...
Then Little Mortal explained how their team of 16 birthday gifts is going to use this 'element'...
Immortal Manager was speechless.
A Team of 16 overpowered 'fighters' + 40% attack debuff on the opponent + element of surprise and a level 89 challenger...
Those seven opponents had no chance at all.
Little mortal clasped his hands,
"Any questions?"
The birth treasures 'shook their heads' and mourned for their former masters...
"Alright.
And the second version of the fight will be the fancy one, with lots of special effects that I will decide about later.
Now, let's start."
Then he took a deep breath and said,
"I, guardian of the universe, Mortal, am challenging the higher beings Amphitrite, Pan, Hecate, Khali, Nejord, Viros, and Thanathel."
The sky turned dark.
The lights were turned off once more.
The voice of World Law sounded,
[ Guardian Mortal challenged seven higher beings simultaneously.
The living creatures in Mortal's territory can choose in his place to fight all of them at once,
Or one by one.
1. 1 VS 1
2. 7 VS 1 ]
Little mortal looked at the sky in shock!
"Wait, what?
I- I didn't mean that!
I didn't want to waste time and challenge them one by one!
Everybody, vote for one vs. one!"
Little mortal turned pale when he saw that two people had already voted for him to fight all of them at the same time!
"Who are they?
Do we have traitors?
Why would they vote for that?"
But that was the only two votes.
No one else voted for him, fighting them all together after that, and billions of votes were given for one vs one fights.
Little mortal wiped the non-existent sweat from his forehead.
And so did the 'managers' who made a move just now, so that no one would vote for the seven against one.
They messaged the creatures connected to them from their former planets the moment they saw the voting...
Because of the Frontline effect, they could no longer force anyone, so they simply used the 'sent to all' message option.
A certain nephew in the Human Empire shook his head in disappointment,
"Everyone is underestimating my great uncle's prowess..."
And a certain godson in the Demoness Sect,
"Yes, boss..."
The two who voted for '1 vs 7' without hesitation were naturally these two...
World Law,
[ 1 vs 1 fight has been chosen.
First challenge,
Mortal, against Nejord.]
....
Ice God, who just started his resurrection, appeared in a barren wasteland.
He was slightly shocked because World Law suddenly interfered with his resurrection and accelerated the process.
Then he heard the voice of World Law echoing through his universe,
[ Higher Being Nejord, you have been challenged by the Guardian of the Universe, Mortal.]
And then he appeared here.
The process is similar to when you challenge others, and then you appear in God's Arena.
Many questions came to his mind.
'Challenged by Guardian of the Universe?
Mortal?
Wait, who killed me in God's Arena?'
While his mind was in turmoil, Ice God tried to find the one who challenged him.
And then his eyes locked onto his opponent, which made him so shocked that a certain Goddess of Entertainment on the mainland immediately looked for his name in God's Ranking List to see how a dead god suddenly showed so much emotion!
What did Ice God see that made him so shocked,
Was a 3-meter-tall man,
In full body armor, wearing a pair of familiar gauntlets on his hands.
In his right hand, he had a familiar hammer,
And in his left hand, he was holding a familiar stick.
But those weren't the only familiar birth treasures he saw!
A famous headband and two wristbands.
A silver knife flying around him,
a group of treasures around his waist, which were all familiar to him, like everything else he just saw!
World Tree of Nature God,
Heaven's Tear of Sea Goddess,
God of Meteorite's Starfall Stone,
God of Prophecy's Prophecy Orb,
The Space Mirror of Space Goddess,
God of Explosion's Star Fusion, and most importantly,
His own birth treasure, Frostveil Crystal, which was floating above the man's head and emitting a cold blue aura at the moment, was there too!
'What even is this lineup?
Is this a birth treasure rebellion?'
With all the shock and 'surprise', he didn't hesitate and jumped up.
As he jumped, the ground froze in an instant, trapping the man in full body armor alongside it.
In the blink of an eye, a 2-meter thick layer of ice covered the ground and the man in armor, who seemed to be too slow to react.
At the same time, a mountain-sized glacier appeared in the sky, falling towards the man.
Sharp icicles started shooting from the ground all over the place towards him, too.
But the next moment, as if Ice God felt something, the mountain-sized glacier changed direction towards him,
and simultaneously, an ice pillar with him as its center formed around him before expanding upward and downward.
And then,
BAM
The danger he suddenly felt hit his head from above, and he was smashed to the ground faster than the speed at which he had just jumped.
The whole ice pillar around him that was supposed to protect him, shattered from top to bottom while Ice God went through it.
He tried to transform his body into ice particles and merge with the ice ground, but he felt that his connection with the ice Law was unstable.
It kept connecting and disconnecting.
So, his body, which was about to change form, reverted to normal.
And then something smashed into his chest while he was lying on the ground.
The impact was so heavy that the ground shook and the 2-meter thick layer of ice on the ground with him as its center cracked in all directions!
The mountain-sized glacier that missed its target last time changed direction again to hit Ice God himself and whatever smashed into his chest.
It was only then that the birth treasures could free themselves from the frozen state.
And BAM, the glacier fell on Ice God.
The birth treasures looked towards the 'landing site', and they could only hear the sound of impact and the shock waves spreading in every direction, accompanied by the roar of anger underneath the mountain that had just crushed the two.
But the angry shouts weren't from Ice God,
Instead, they were from a familiar guardian.
"Do you remember me?"
BAM
"It's me, Mortal!"
BAM BAM
"Weren't you so strong when you bullied my people?"
BAM BAM BAM
"You picked the wrong person to mess with!"
BAM BAM
"How does it feel to be the one getting bullied?"
BAM BAM
"You're not so tough anymore, are you?"
BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM
The audience watching could feel the hatred in their guardian's voice...
What did this ice man called Nejord do to him?
The newborns watching this scene gulped down while sweating profusely.
Maybe they were the only ones who could understand how strong one should be to crush a Higher Being like this!
It didn't take long before the shock waves of Little Mortal's attacks pushed away all the ice and rubble around them and revealed him, who was beating up the motionless Ice God.
From time to time, a layer of ice would appear on Little Mortal's body, which would shatter without being able to freeze or slow his attacks.
As if it were Ice God who was trying to freeze his opponent, but it wasn't effective at all.
After another 100 or so punches to Ice God's face, Little Mortal suddenly stopped.
Ice God's body was full of cracks now, as if he would shatter at any time.
Little Mortal stood up slowly,
"Cube, puppet, Finish Him!"
The two flew over hastily and started their job to 'Finish Him'.
Not long after, World Law announced the winner,
[ Nejord has been turned into Guardian Mortal's puppet.
Mortal wins.
Guardian Mortal, be ready for your next challenge.]
The next moment, the sky returned to normal, and Little Mortal appeared on the silver platform with his teammates, who had brought the new puppet.
The moment Ice God's body appeared, the silver platform froze immediately, and the ice started spreading in every direction.
The prison cage hurriedly took him in.
Little Mortal looked at his slow prison cage, but didn't say anything.
Rose, who had just frozen with Immortal Manager, was freed by Frostveil Crystal, the Ice God's birth treasure.
She pretended nothing happened and came to Little Mortal,
"Boss, are you fine?"
Little Mortal nodded, but didn't say anything.
"Boss, why didn't your birthday gifts help you at all?"
Little Mortal chuckled,
"Each of them needs a universe as support in normal circumstances to show their power.
But they are now sharing only the universe of the sneaky guy, that thug, and the politician.
And little cage needs the most support to keep the two old parasites in for now.
As I said before,
They are responsible for the 'element of surprise' and nothing else."
Rose didn't ask anything else.
It seems her boss wasn't in a good mood.
Everyone remembered when this little guardian had said in the past that his ultimate goal was 'revenge'.
Turned out that he wasn't joking.
And these Higher Beings weren't simple creatures at all.
Even that broken body of 'Nejord', which had the aura of only level 4 when it appeared on the silver platform, spread its effect to the surroundings so fast that nobody could react...
The sound of World Law echoed,
[ Second challenge.
Mortal, against Pan.]
The sky turned dark.
Little Mortal clenched his fist in anticipation and said,
"Alright, I'm level 90 now.
I can do this!"
The birth treasures, and the rest,
"-_-"
You just leveled up?
Little Mortal, before disappearing again, said,
"Good job, Little Crystal."
In the sky, a stone pillar made of 7 squares appeared after the start of the first challenge.
A question mark was in each of those squares, and at the beginning, only Ice God's face was revealed on the first square.
At this moment, another square with Little Mortal's face on it, which was in front of Ice God's face,
Started moving up to the next square with the '?' mark.
When it reached in front of it,
A picture appeared in the '?' place.
By now, everyone knew what this imaginary pillar was for.
They were the guardian Mortal's opponents, which would be revealed one by one after defeating the previous one.
And now another opponent was revealed.
The face of an Ent, the true face of Nature God.
A tree with a human face, and a human body to be exact.
In the sky, the same barren land came to everyone's view.
One side was the same man in full body armor with all kinds of treasures from the previous challenge, and the opponent was the 'World Tree' this time.
A halo of a huge tree with golden leaves was above the head of the man in armor.
The moment God of Nature saw his opponent, while shocked, he turned to his true form.
A towering Ent, at least 10 meters tall, appeared.
The barren ground instantly turned into a forest.
All kinds of trees and plants began to grow.
God of Nature opened the fight with a roar that echoed across the forest.
He was truly angry when he saw his own birth treasure flexing for him!
The tree roots rose from the ground as he summoned the forces of the earth and lashed at the man in full body armor like a whip.
The man in armor was sent flying like an empty shell,
And at the same time, a hole was made in God of Nature's head.
BAM
He was dumbfounded.
'What attacked me?'
The next moment, the whole forest trembled as if something had hit the ground!
Before Nature God could see what passed through his head and smashed the ground, another two holes appeared in his chest.
He only saw the afterimage of a small figure that appeared somewhere in a huge pit that seemed to be the landing site of whatever shook everything, and made the hole in his head!
Before he could figure out who or what was attacking him, holes started appearing in his huge body, while the sound barrier was breaking all around him!
It was as if he were inside an invisible and unbreakable sphere, and something unstoppable was bouncing inside with him as its target!
Nature God, with visible fear on his face, tried to track down his target, but soon found out that even the sound barrier breaking was always with a second delay compared to his attacker's movements!
Every time he first felt a new hole in his body, and only a second later, he could tell from the sound which direction he was attacked from!
He couldn't track down the other party!
At this moment,
The harmless trees and plants on the ground suddenly began transforming into horrifying tentacle monsters with mouths full of sharp teeth and thorns all over their bodies, while the tree trunks grew thicker and thicker.
In no time, the whole forest moved around Nature God to protect him from the unknown attacker.
But even when these plants' random attacks hit or blocked the invisible attacker, they just shattered without exception, or got a hole in them to prove the attacker was still unstoppable.
After a while, God of Nature finally fell to the ground.
With each hole added to his body, he was getting weaker and weaker, and his connection to his Law of Nature became less and less.
Until his connection was completely cut off and he could no longer bear it, causing him to fall under his own weight.
While lying on the ground,
His big head turned to the left with difficulty.
He could tell his attacker had finally stopped and landed there.
He saw a familiar little boy, looking at him with visible hatred in his eyes.
A Guardian Token was hanging on his waist.
BAM
Another hole appeared in his forehead, and now the little boy was on the other side of his head.
"Finish him!" said the little boy...
Not long after, Nature God, who finally saw who his real opponent was, joined the puppet team.
[ Higher Being, Pan, has been turned into Guardian Mortal's puppet.
Mortal wins.
Guardian Mortal, be ready for your next challenge.]
The group of one 'little man' and many birthday gifts appeared on the silver platform with the new puppet once again.
The trees in the surrounding area started growing at an unimaginable rate the moment God of Nature appeared.
But the cage took the new puppet in as fast as it could this time.
Little Mortal looked at the stone pillar in the sky,
"I wonder who is next?"
[ Third challenge.
Mortal against Amphitrite.]
Little Mortal's face moved one square higher, and at the same time, the '?' in the pillar changed to the face of a woman with blue hair that was dancing like sea waves around her.
Her eyes were like the ocean itself; even one glance at them, and you had the feeling of being lost in a vast blue ocean.
Little Mortal smiled confidently,
"Now I finally broke through level 90!
With level 91,
I can finally unlock my second divine technique!
Who can stop me now?"
Rose asked curiously,
"What divine technique?"
Little Mortal smiled mysteriously,
"Just watch!"
And disappeared with the 'Element of surprise team'.
The same barren land, the same full body armor opponent, and the same shocked, surprised, and finally, angry Higher Being after seeing the 'main character'.
Above the man's head in armor, a single drop of water was floating, while emitting blue auras with the background sound of sea waves.
Sea Goddess, Amphitrite, seeing her own birth treasure acting all cool and awesome for someone else, exploded in anger.
The ground suddenly turned wet, and the next moment water started rising from it.
The whole battlefield turned to sea in no time.
Heavy rain started falling from the sky.
Any creature contacting the water would be locked on.
The man in armor, as if an invisible pressure had been applied to him, knelt.
The pressure of ocean depth was now applied to every corner of the battlefield.
But the pressure suddenly disappeared when a voice sounded,
"Bulubul."
And the next moment, Sea Goddess was the one who kneeled.
Two small hands at some point in time were wrapped around her neck without her notice.
While choking her, the owner of the hands whispered to her ear,
"Blublllubul."
And while the words seemed meaningless, because it was spoken in the Mainland language, which was a universal language, she understood them.
The first word was,
"Equality."
And the whisper in her ears was,
"Sleep, little mermaid, sleep..."
And as she was downgraded to a 'mortal', or to be exact,
A level 1 'mermaid', her vision slowly darkened, and she fainted in shock and disbelief.
Little Mortal smiled mockingly at her and let her go.
The cube and the puppet both came without being asked this time.
At first, they thought that he might eventually drop below 51% soul.
Even if he could cheat the 51% law condition, because he was lawless, Soul was different.
But after five tries, they knew clearly that not only was this guy's law zero,
He probably didn't have a soul either, and like his law that was 0, his soul was Non-existent too.
And again, 51% of nothing was still nothing if he didn't have a soul...
He could basically have as many puppets as he wants!
While pondering how a Higher Being can move around and defeat people without a soul and without law, and even remain alive, another puppet was added to the team.
[ Higher Being Amphitrite has been turned into Guardian Mortal's puppet.
Mortal wins.
Guardian Mortal, be ready for your next challenge.]
The group came back to the silver platform.
A small table with some fruit juice was ready now.
Little Mortal smiled,
"Assistant Rose, is it-"
Rose answered before he finished his question,
"It's 'spirit' fruit juice, boss!"
Little Mortal said,
"Oh, then I drink it after my challenges.
If I drink it now, that blue mist might expose my location."
Rose nodded,
"By the way, boss.
What was that 'Equality' you just used?
Isn't that like 'Judgment by Age'?"
Rose, because she knew the language of the Mainland, could understand him even when he talked underwater.
Little Mortal shook his head,
"It's not if my opponent is a Higher Being.
They are born at level 6, so even if I use Judgment by Age on them, and they become 3 years old -
Wait, no, I mean 40 years old!
Cough, sorry I mixed it with something else...
Anyway, as I was saying, even if they are the same age as me, they are still at level 6, just weaker.
But my other divine technique, 'Equality', is making us equal in terms of law temporarily.
And by the way, I didn't unlock it after reaching level 91; I could use it before, too.
What I unlocked is the ability to use it without touching people."
Rose remembered him punching or kicking people, and they would lose connection to the law inside their body and become mortal on the spot.
"So it's that technique.
But how big is the area where you can affect your opponent without touching them?"
"10 cm (3.9 inch) in radius for each universe is the area of my domain now.
Which is...?"
"Sneaky guy, thug, politician, gardener, chunk of ice, and now mermaid?
That's 60 cm."
Little Mortal nodded,
"Add fortune teller and soulless guy too.
That's 8, and I'm now at level 92.
So basically, I'm unstoppable in an 80 cm radius..."
Then he shook his head in sadness,
"At the 'peak' of power, I was already feeling so lonely,
so indifferent... but now, I'm even going higher and higher..."
Everyone thought he was indeed invincible in these challenges!
He could use the 'element of surprise',
He could hide completely from everyone's eyes,
And he could position the opponent in his 80 cm (31.5 inch) radius with his invisibility and turn them into level 1 creatures.
A sure win.
But they were wrong.
[ Fourth challenge.
Mortal, against Hecate.]
Little Mortal's face moved one square higher and stopped in front of the next '?'.
The '?' disappeared, and a stone head replaced it.
Little Mortal and his team appeared on the battlefield.
Seeing the new opponent, everyone became speechless...
A giant, made of stone, at least 100 meters tall,
Appeared.
A moment later, the sky was filled with red dots.
And the red dots got bigger and bigger, as if they were getting closer and closer to the ground.
The birth treasures thought their little guardian could
at most use his 'Equality' technique on the tip of the pinky finger of this huge stone giant...
It was basically useless.
But, they were wrong again.
"Judgment by Age."
Turned the stone giant into a small version of itself.
Smaller than 2 meters.
And then,
"Equality."
And that was it.
God of Meteorite received a beating alongside the meteorite shower, which was now falling on its own head...
Little Mortal didn't even care about the meteorites that were coming for them both and punched him enough to make the stone giant full of cracks.
The cube and puppet flew over to do their jobs.
This time, the main character of the 'surprise element' team, Starfall Stone, couldn't show off because the opponent didn't care about it at all.
Stones didn't have feelings, and it was the same for this stone giant, who didn't show much surprise seeing its birth treasure with someone else.
The birth treasures even asked the Starfall Stone to change the direction of the meteorites towards Little Mortal and its former master to see what's going to happen.
And while it was excited because its former master had lost control over the meteorites when its law was reset to 0, it actually did as it was asked by the rest of the treasures.
And as they expected, the little boy didn't even have a scratch- ehhhh?
The birth treasures didn't have eyes,
But if they had, it would be wide open in shock now!
There were actually some small black cracks on Little Mortal's face now!
Did that really work?
Did they go overboard?
They all felt the shadow of death was slowly but surely towering over them!
[ Higher Being Hecate has been turned into Guardian Mortal's puppet.
Mortal wins.
Guardian Mortal, be ready for your next challenge.]
The group returned to the silver platform.
Seeing her boss's face, Rose was going to ask what had happened to him, but she saw the birth treasures making all kinds of signs for her not to mention anything about the unknown cracks on his face.
Rose just furrowed her brow and didn't say anything.
Little Mortal stood there in silence for a while.
His fists were clenched, his face serious, and his breathing calm.
He muttered,
"Level 93.
My power is going out of control...
I need to be quick and go to that thing cultivators go to!
What was it called again?
Conclusion? Inclusion? Delusion?"
Rose tried to help,
"Seclusion?"
Little Mortal said,
"Yes, yes!
I need to go to that!"
The birth treasures,
[ Fifth challenge.
Mortal, against Khali.]
And as if Little Mortal was in a hurry, before God of Disaster could do anything, he turned his law to zero,
Held him by the ankle,
He started arching his own body backward and forward while smashing the God of Disaster into the hard ground.
God of Disaster could only use all kinds of swearing to fight back while losing power.
Which, naturally, didn't work for him, and his voice grew weaker and weaker until he fell silent.
"You silly troublemaker, let me tell you,
These were the last 'bad' words you said in your life."
And then, Little Mortal dropped him to the side for Cube and Puppet to turn him into a puppet.
[ Higher Being Khali has been turned into Guardian Mortal's puppet.
Mortal wins.
Guardian Mortal, be ready for your next match.]
Little Mortal appeared on the silver platform.
The cracks on his face were a lot more, and they stretched to his neck and hands, too.
It seemed that his whole body was cracking.
Rose gulped down,
"B-Boss, do you know about the condition of your body?"
Little Mortal nodded,
"Yeah, I'm going to explode because I'm leveling up too fast.
That's why my body is trying to let some of the power leak out through these cracks, and stop the disaster from happening."
The birth treasures,
The managers who were listening secretly,
"O_O"
What power was leaking?
They couldn't feel any law or energy coming out of him!
Immortal Manager tried to act as if it wasn't some emergency situation,
"So, Guardian Mortal.
If I understand it correctly, you level up every time you win a challenge?"
Little Mortal nodded.
"And your condition gets worse after each win?"
Little Mortal nodded again.
"And after the two remaining challenges, you will be level 96?
Will there be any danger?"
Little Mortal scratched his head,
"What danger?
Oh... You mean if I explode?"
Immortal Manager nodded, and so did all the other managers who were secretly watching them.
"If I explode, then my territory will explode too, because I'm already connected to all of it.
After that, the explosion will affect the universes attached to the Mainland outside.
At least 100, and possibly up to 500, other universes connected to the Mainland will also be affected and likely become disconnected from it.
If that happens, the Mainland loses its momentum and speed, alongside part of the 'fuel' that comes from the now lost universes.
It will slow down, and then -"
[ Sixth challenge.
Mortal, against Viros.]
Little Mortal looked at the sky and sighed,
"Sorry, no time to tell you what happens when the Mainland slows down..."
And he disappeared while his face went up one square higher on the pillar.
It was previously in front of a man with a twisted face and a creepy smile, but now it went to the next square.
This new opponent was a man who seemed to be a puppet based on his metallic skin and red, mechanical eyes.
That was the Puppet Master, whose real face was like this in the crystal's database.
But not long after the battle started, Puppet Master shattered into pieces while still in shock...
This time, the audience or the birth treasures didn't even have the time to see what happened.
A short while later, Puppet Master was transformed into a puppet himself after being reassembled.
[ Higher Being Viros has been turned into Guardian Mortal's puppet.
Mortal wins.
Guardian Mortal, be ready for your last challenge.]
This time, there was an additional message as well.
[03/11 outsiders.]
Another outsider has been caught!
Little Mortal reappeared on the silver platform.
The moment he appeared, everything around him started being pulled towards him, as if he were the source of gravity!
Rose, Immortal Manager, and the birth treasures controlled themselves to not go further, but the chairs, spirit fruit juice, and anything light flew towards him and stuck to him in the blink of an eye.
Little Mortal was speechless,
"-_-"
Then he sighed and said,
"Even my weight is out of control now..."
Rose asked nervously,
"Boss, are you sure you are fine?"
Little Mortal nodded,
"Yeah.
I just need to connect the token to my headband and wristbands.
It should be fine by then.
After that, I need to go for a round of seclusion."
The crowd, hearing his answer, felt slightly at ease.
The old manager and Rose remembered him always wearing a headband and wristbands.
So he was out of control even back then, and was keeping his body under control like that?
Rose asked in curiosity,
"You were saying, boss.
Mainland slows down, and then?"
Little Mortal looked at her in confusion at first, but then said,
"Oh, and then that group of lunatic parasites will catch up with us.
The end."
Those who were listening didn't understand what exactly he was talking about.
They didn't have much information about Higher Beings and their Mainland.
Mainland?
They just heard the name from him.
It was the land of Higher Beings.
But the Mainland's 'fuel' provided by the universes?
They didn't understand it or what it was.
It seems each universe connected to the Mainland was fueling it?
So it slows down because of the fuel shortage if it's disconnected from the universes?
What does that mean?
It means it's moving now?
Moving to where?
And the universes are attached to it while it's moving?
They didn't even know how big this solar system was, let alone the universe.
And there is a place called Mainland that is carrying them on its 'shoulder'?
All of this wasn't easy to imagine for any of them.
But for a certain group of birth treasures who knew about the Mainland, they felt some secrets were revealed!
The only thing everyone could clearly understand without knowing anything was the 'lunatic parasites'.
This little guardian always referred to Higher Beings by unusual names or simply called them parasites.
So what was after the Mainland, that he not only called 'parasite', but lunatic parasites?
That shouldn't be anything good.
And another group of birth treasures who belonged to the outsiders not long ago, were now dumbfounded!
This little newborn spoke as if he already knew about outsiders and the 'force' behind them, which was chasing the Mainland!
Immortal Manager sent a signal to Rose.
Rose nodded,
"Boss, how about you tell us about the 'lunatic parasites' while there is time?"
Little Mortal, though, just shrugged,
"How should I know?
I'm just a child.
But the one I just caught was one of them."
The crowd knew they had asked for some highly classified information, and he showed them his 'child' card to avoid answering the question.
But when he said the one he just 'caught' was one of them, they felt at ease.
It seems even the 'lunatic' version of these Higher Beings could be dealt with when their little guardian was the hunter.
[ Seventh and last challenge.
Mortal against Thanathel.]
Little Mortal chuckled,
"Well, well, well... It's finally time to face the final boss!
Wait for me, Shao Kahn!"
His picture in the sky went up one more square and reached the '?' at the top of the stone pillar.
The '?' changed to a skeletal face that seemed to be the embodiment of death.
Seeing the face, Little Mortal was shocked,
"Huh!?"
BAM
The moment Little Mortal saw the skeletal face, he kicked the 'birthday team' away,
So he was the only one who disappeared!
The crowd was stunned.
The treasures started vibrating as if communicating with each other.
Rose and the managers looked at the sky in worry.
Just now,
While Little Mortal was speaking to them,
And standing there, they could see the cracks on his skin getting thicker and longer, while the gravitational force around him grew stronger.
His body seemed to be really out of control.
And as if it wasn't enough, he suddenly acted like this too?
What just happened that was out of his expectations?
Whatever it was, it forced him not to let the rest join him!
Listening to the birth treasures' conversation, Rose heard them talking about a 'heart' that was crushed by her boss when he killed his current opponent not long ago, and sent him back to the 'lobby'.
In a moment, the birth treasures reached the same conclusion as what Little Mortal found out before them!
Little Mortal crushed this guy's heart not long ago, but how could a skeleton have a heart?
It means he didn't kill the real body, but a clone!
Was he already exposed?
The Prophecy Orb, Cube, and Puppet, who were the birth treasures of the outsiders, were speechless.
They thought to themselves,
In the end, these three were colleagues, and except for one of the outsiders, they knew the rest of them.
But from the first day of joining the team, Little Mortal told them not to mention anything about their masters or the other outsiders.
And they knew the reason for that.
Higher Beings might be able to feel that someone is prying into their secrets, let alone their masters, who were connected to them for billions of years.
The three thought to themselves,