When watching from the stands, the pre-battle standoff had seemed fleeting. Yet, now standing on the stage, I truly grasped just how sluggishly time crawled by.
However, the initial nervousness had vanished completely, replaced by a surge of pure excitement. I, too, had once been filled with passion, thrilled by the sight of characters battling on a screen. I had even fantasized about one day experiencing such a heart-pounding, genuine confrontation myself.
I watched as the light wall dissolved. In that very instant, my accumulated divine power erupted, forcing the wings on my back to tear through my flesh and emerge. These were unlike the wings I had previously manifested; their feathers were no longer soft, but rigid, like plates of iron.
Yet, even as I registered the change in my feathers, my opponent had not remained idle. One by one, light arrays materialized in the air, and in the very next moment, countless fiery meteors rained down with explosive force.
“???!!!”
‘You sly Lavishly Karafar, you tricked me again!’ I thought. ‘What happened to the Illusion God you mentioned? This is clearly a Mage God specializing in fire, not an Illusion God at all. Even with my limited knowledge of the divine systems, I can tell this is absolutely not an Illusion God.’
Caught entirely off guard, I could only unleash `[Divine Art: Swiftness]` and frantically scramble about. I flew low, weaving and dodging the incoming fireballs. I should clarify: it wasn’t that I couldn’t fly, but rather that I dared not ascend too high. I had already mastered the techniques of flight during this period, yet I struggled with high altitudes—not due to acrophobia, mind you. If I flew too high, my mind would simply go blank, causing me to plummet. My current maximum flight altitude was probably around fifteen meters.
As I darted about, a sudden realization struck me: I had a `[Divine Art: Holy Shield]` within my repertoire! Halting my frantic escape, I traced a ‘Z’ on my “keyboard,” activating `[Divine Art: Holy Shield]`. My finger swept across the divine language score, stirring up rings of melody born from the activated divine script. It occurred to me then that this divine realm had no need for musicians; any linguistic deity could simply cast two divine arts and produce a magnificent musical feast.
A massive pink shield materialized, intercepting the incoming fire meteors. But what was with the pink color? Everyone else’s Holy Shields gleamed golden, exuding an aura of undeniable majesty. Mine, however, looked utterly devoid of any such intimidating presence.
My opponent, unperturbed, ceased her barrage of fire meteors. With a flick of her wrist, a volley of flaming arrows shot forth, manifesting as `[Divine Art: Flame Shatter Arrow]`.
This was a divine art specifically designed to shatter defenses. Clearly, my opponent had been well-prepared. A concentrated volley of arrows erupted in a shower of sparks, yet failed to pierce my shield. This left her visibly surprised. She had initially assumed I was a high-ranking deity with a title, and had already significantly overestimated my divine power reserves, believing they wouldn’t exceed 150 million. What she hadn’t anticipated was that my divine power reserves were a staggering 250 million.
In the stands, a young man in formal attire, resembling a teacher, observed my performance with a deep frown. His concern wasn’t my divine power reserves, for that wasn’t the most crucial factor in determining victory. Instead, he was perplexed by my divine language score—my “keyboard.” The design of my “keyboard” clearly baffled him. He reasoned that placing divine language characters so closely together would not only drastically reduce the user’s margin for error but also severely limit the number of divine arts that could be arranged. Such a design, he concluded, was entirely detrimental.
Seizing the momentary reprieve on the field, I swiftly unleashed two divine arts in quick succession: `[Divine Art: Spear]` and `[Divine Art: Shatter]`. The former conjured countless spears for a concentrated volley, while the latter imbued my attacks with enhanced penetration. In my estimation, if she dared to block this onslaught with her Holy Shield, she would undoubtedly be pierced straight through.
One by one, silver-grey spears materialized in the air, their tips now adorned with a faint pink glow. I was utterly speechless. A divine art that should have been quite intimidating had been transformed into this appearance the moment my `[Shatter]` was applied. Was it truly possible that all my divine arts would manifest in this shade of pink?
Meanwhile, in the stands, some of the deities had already begun to whisper amongst themselves.
“This Moe God is absolutely adorable,” one murmured. “Even their divine arts are a lovely pink!”
“Wow, that Holy Shield is so charming,” another chimed in. “Shouldn’t we ask them to teach us how to cast it?”
“Truly worthy of being the Moe God,” a third whispered. “Every action, even their divine arts, are utterly adorable. Our spears feel so grim and menacing; just look at theirs.”
Fully immersed in the battle, my concentration was absolute, and thus I remained oblivious to their conversation.
“Whoosh—”
Under my precise control, countless spears hurtled towards my opponent. While I didn’t expect them to secure a decisive victory, they would undoubtedly cause her considerable trouble and buy me some precious time.
She immediately devised a countermeasure. Unleashing `[Divine Art: Flame Burst]`, she cast two consecutive bursts. They collided, detonated, and the ensuing shockwave deflected my spears slightly off course.
This principle bore a striking resemblance to Senior Desa’s method. However, it was clearly quite taxing on divine power and utterly ineffective against energy-based attacks. For instance, it would have been completely useless against the `[Thunder Spear]` I had witnessed earlier.
Previously, observing others parrying and countering had struck me as rather dull. Yet, standing on the stage myself, I now fully comprehended the immense difficulty and inherent peril of such exchanges.
Having dealt with my `[Spear]` attack, my opponent immediately launched another volley of fire meteors. ‘Seriously, girl,’ I thought, ‘what is with your unwavering obsession with fire meteors?’
I immediately resumed my frantic evasion. I suspected my physical exertion today had already surpassed the cumulative total of my previous eighteen years, for I had lost count of how many laps I had run around this arena.
Gradually, however, I seemed to discover a rhythm to my dodging. The frantic chaos of before began to subside, replaced by a nascent confidence. I couldn’t help but feel a touch of smugness. ‘After all, I’m a slow-burner,’ I mused. ‘Just wait until I truly find my pace; I’ll absolutely obliterate you!’
“Splat—”
A fiery meteor slammed heavily into my back. I—I had actually forgotten the cardinal rule of tempting fate!
I tumbled over a dozen times through the air, then rolled five or six times across the ground, finally skidding to a halt, face-down, after several meters.
“Damn it!”
Observing the seemingly light fire meteor, I had foolishly assumed that being struck would, at most, leave me with a minor burn. But this utterly unscientific impact force! Had I not, in a moment of foresight, activated `[Divine Art: Divine Body]`, I would undoubtedly have met my end right then and there.
My divine language score indeed contained significantly fewer arranged divine arts than those of other language-based Illusion Gods. Typically, such deities could arrange over fifteen, but due to spatial limitations, I could only arrange seven: `[Divine Art: Spear]`, `[Divine Art: Shatter]`, `[Divine Art: Dispel]`, `[Divine Art: Swiftness]`, `[Divine Art: Blink]`, `[Divine Art: Divine Body]`, and `[Divine Art: Holy Shield]`.
I believed these instant-cast divine arts would suffice. From then on, I could rely on manual inputs, much like playing King of Fighters. Although far more intricate, given my unprecedented hand speed, it shouldn’t pose a problem.
Now, however, I was utterly flattened. In this predicament, if I were to stand up immediately, I would undoubtedly face another brutal assault. Therefore, I decided to feign death. After all, without having activated `[Divine Art: Divine Body]` for that last hit, I would have certainly been finished.
My opponent, observing me sprawled motionless on the ground, paused to consider. She then began to approach, stopping about twenty meters away. After another moment of thought, she started to gather her power.
“?!”
‘Girl, are you truly that ruthless?’ I thought. ‘Your first instinct isn’t to ask if I’m alright, but to deliver the finishing blow! Is this really necessary? Can’t you show a little compassion?’
Nevertheless, twenty meters was more than sufficient. Among my instant-cast divine arts was `[Divine Art: Blink]`, capable of instantaneous movement over thirty meters. This was typically a skill favored by burst-oriented War Gods, but…
The very instant she unleashed `[Divine Art: Flame Arrow]`, I vanished. I had chosen to teleport 20.5 meters, reappearing directly behind her.
Yet, she was already prepared; a Holy Shield instantly materialized between us. ‘Hehe,’ I thought, ‘when it comes to ambushing people, I’m supremely confident. Little girl, you’re still too green. Let your big brother teach you a lesson.’
In my hand, I held the “Moe God Codex,” which I had secretly retrieved while feigning collapse. I instantly unleashed `[Divine Art: Shatter]`, then swiftly tapped the divine language score to activate `[Divine Art: Thousand Jun]`. The effect of `[Thousand Jun]` was to instantaneously amplify an object’s weight to an utterly terrifying magnitude. An ordinary Illusion God would certainly be unable to wield it, but fortunately, my character possessed the ‘super-strength loli’ trait—the only useful one among all my haphazard settings. The book’s material was unknown, yet it was as hard as stone, so I had no fear of it breaking. Its size, moreover, was perfectly suited for a makeshift bludgeon.
“Clang—”
The Holy Shield shattered in an instant. Following through, my book landed with a resounding “thwack—” against her body.
She was sent flying a considerable distance, slamming into the wall at the edge of the arena. Out of bounds. I had won.
Still, I wondered if I had overexerted myself, sending her flying such a considerable distance. Regardless, she was a girl. As a gentleman, hadn’t I been a bit excessive?
In that moment, the entire arena descended into a deathly silence.