CHAPTER 470: CHAPTER 364: DEITY MASK, SUBDUING THE SUB-GOD

Simple physical attacks were ineffective against the Abyssal Child’s Water Elementalization. However, a powerful Stormforged Weapon from mythology like ’Sure-hit Spear, Gungnir’ carried an enchantment of equal ferocity, instantly breaching the Goddess’s fundamental survival ability. She was forcibly pulled from her state of Water Elementalization and locked into her flesh-and-blood form. As a result, a dignified Fourth Order Mythical Creature, despite having many powerful Black Sorceries still unused, was blown apart on the spot during what was merely a warm-up melee duel.

WHOOSH...

At that moment, a torrential downpour began overhead.

"HUFF—!"

Byron watched the Fourth Order soul that had been forcefully dragged into his shadow and added to the Mad Hunt Legion. Only then did he exhale a long breath laden with the heavy scent of blood. His pores opened, releasing gouts of steam like a roaring furnace, which also quickly cooled his body.

The cheetah, the fastest land animal, can only maintain speeds of up to 120 kilometers per hour for a maximum of three minutes; otherwise, it would literally overheat and die. Byron’s all-out burst operated on a similar principle. It seemed as if he had merely thrust his spear once from start to finish, but it was actually a full-power explosion integrating multiple abilities: the Night Demon’s perfect body, title effects, and his Storm Admiral powers, all under the influence of his Flow State.

But Byron also knew that while his almost unfairly powerful Night Demon body and the Divine Spear Gungnir were certainly formidable, the opportunities created for him by others were just as crucial. Most of these people were his King’s Right Hand. Under the Golden Law, they were like the ten fingers of two fists; when clenched together, they could exert a power far greater than the sum of their parts. That was why it was almost unheard of for a lone Fifth-order Legend to topple a Kingly Title.

"If the enemy is a group, all sixteen of us attack. If the enemy is a single person, all sixteen of us still attack."

The King’s Right Hand was, in essence, part of the Kingly Title’s strength. At a single command, his brothers would swarm forward. No matter how formidable the enemy, they would be overwhelmed by sheer numbers and inevitably hacked into seventeen or eighteen pieces.

With a flick of his spear, he caught the Bayfolk Battle Axe—a Second-Level Wonder that had just been sent flying—in his hand. To take a direct hit from Gungnir without a scratch, it was obviously a treasure as well. Upon closer inspection, he found that—likely due to the Goddess’s own abilities—aside from this transforming battle axe, she had no other spoils of war on her.

"Wait, there seems to be one more thing. What is this?"

Byron looked into his shadow. The soul of the Goddess still wore a bone mask on her face, faintly emanating a golden light. Its overall shape resembled a doe’s skull, and along its edge, a line of small text was inscribed in Runes: "Love and Beauty, Freya." It looked like a shamanic mask worn by Bayfolk Priests during sacrificial rituals in ancient times.

The Sailing Logbook then displayed a line of information:

"Second-Class Relic: Deity Mask of Freya, Goddess of Love and Beauty."

"Freya?"

As one of the few direct descendants of the Bayfolk lineage, whose family preserved the most complete Bayfolk mythology, Byron was intimately familiar with all the Bayfolk "Gods." However, most of these so-called "Gods" from the Mythological Era, when gods and humans coexisted, never possessed the incomprehensibly powerful Classes of the Sixth or Seventh Order. They were merely a group of powerful Transcendents from among the Bayfolk, roughly equivalent to the Fifth Order Kingly Titles of the Silver Era. Two thousand years later, they had long since returned to dust. Byron even suspected that the Fifth Order Kingly Titles from the Silver Era might just be weakened versions of the Fifth Order Pseudo-Gods from the Mythological Era.

Low Sequence: First Order Servant, Second Order Profession.

Middle Sequence: Third Order Elite (Grand Wizard), Tier 4 Hero (Mythical Creature).

High Sequence: Fifth-order Legend (Pseudo-God), Sixth Order Epic (Demigod).

Supreme: Seventh Order, The One and Only Creator.

From these Ladder of Glory Sequence names, one could glimpse traces left behind by the Mythological Era. It wasn’t until the end of the Dark Millennium and the resurgence of the mythological system that these unfamiliar terms re-entered human consciousness; in essence, they still referred to the same things.

This legendary Goddess of Love and Beauty, Freya, like the love goddesses in various mythologies, was an incredibly beautiful yet promiscuous deity. It was said that despite deeply loving her husband, she had shared intimate moments—once, twice, even thrice—with all the male Gods in Bayfolk mythology. Her Divine Positions included: Love, Magic, War, and Gold.

Byron continued to read.

"Ability: Deity Mask.

A Bayfolk relic from the Mythological Era two thousand years ago, it was one of the mediums Priests used to communicate with the Gods. There was a Deity Mask for every God. Humans with sufficiently high compatibility who wore such a mask could connect with the corresponding God’s Rank within the sea of collective subconscious. They would temporarily have Divinity bestowed upon them, augmenting their power in relevant fields. With Divine Positions currently vacant, it was even possible to slowly digest and assimilate the corresponding God’s Rank.

Note: If the wearer’s Class and Anchoring are insufficient, they risk being assimilated by the corresponding Divinity, completely losing their sense of self and transforming into the image held by the God’s followers.

Mandate of Heaven: Each Sacred Relic mask carries a different Mandate, related to the legends of the God itself. The more one’s actions and behavior resemble the target God, the faster their Divinity and corresponding Anchoring will be assimilated."