Chapter 639: Useless

"Your Majesty!"

Thetis was visibly moved, bowing deeply to Li Mochen.

Achilles had mentioned that Li Mochen would reserve the position of 'Guardian Angel' for him, but he had not said that His Majesty would directly transfer his own guardian divine office, and one as high as level seventeen!

"Your grace is beyond what my son and I can repay. I swear that as long as I, Thetis, am the Sea Goddess, the seas under my control will forever be your friends."

Thetis's tone was utterly sincere, for this divine office was exactly what Achilles urgently needed—not only powerful but also well-suited to him.

She had indeed recreated a physical body for Achilles, but over the past millennia, Achilles had been in a state of disconnection between spirit and flesh. The two were not in harmony, even in a state of imbalance, akin to a 'rejection' reaction in medicine. And despite her nourishing it with various mythical herbs, Achilles's current body had only reached the level of an ancient god with a divine rank of ten.

The powerful divine office of 'Guardian' would not only help Achilles suppress and balance the anomalies within his body but also aid him in refining his flesh and raising his ancient god rank.

The concept of 'guardianship' itself was also highly beneficial to Achilles. The related concepts of protection, self-defense, and defense could enhance his already formidable defensive capabilities.

"Madam, you need not do this. Achilles's talent and character are worthy of my treatment. I sincerely hope he can become my right hand."

Li Mochen replied with a smile: "Besides, this also lightens my burden, doesn't it?"

This was also the truth. His divine offices were increasing, becoming a heavy burden.

The 'Guardian' office was a case in point. It was not originally in Li Mochen's plan, but because he had pacified Australia and prevented the catastrophe, many believers regarded him as the guardian of humanity and modern society. The immense faith generated from this allowed him to push this divine office directly to divine rank seventeen.

If not limited by the rank of his primary divine office, 'Fate', he might have been able to use the conceptual divine office of 'Guardian' to break through to divine rank nineteen.

Li Mochen anticipated more such situations in the future, but if such divine offices increased further, his own divinity would eventually be overwhelmed.

The 'Angels' invented by Ahura were an excellent solution—a relationship far closer and more reliable than that of 'subordinate gods'.

This was because the object of the believers' faith was still himself, and the divine offices Li Mochen granted to the angels were essentially still his own.

This method both lightened Li Mochen's burden and did not cause him to lose power, benefiting both parties.

If he needed to use the power of the Guardian office, he could always call upon it from Achilles.

"Yet I am still grateful!"

Thetis shook her head: "If there is anything you need us to do, please command us."

She knew that among Li Mochen's subordinates, there were not a few with exceptional talent. Even if Li Mochen had long planned to separate his divine offices, the choice for 'Guardian Angel' did not necessarily have to be Achilles.

Achilles was not good with words; he showed no grateful tone or action, only bowing his head calmly: "I swear I will fight for you until the last moment, my King!"

"I trust you! Now, please stand guard for me. I'm not sure what enemies may appear. If any do, you must help me stop them."

Li Mochen naturally trusted Achilles's character. Apart from being proud, willful, and excessively cruel to enemies, he had almost no flaws.

More crucially, their interests were already intertwined; they were on the same boat. That was the truly reassuring relationship.

However, Li Mochen had no expectations for Achilles's abilities for now. After all, he had just recovered, his body and soul were not yet coordinated, and he had only just obtained the Guardian office. His combat power was predictable.

Li Mochen did not need this Guardian Angel to fight for him now. Currently, only those above the rank of deputy god-king could attack his divine kingdom.

Those who had not truly crossed the Gate of Truth would find it difficult to use divine authority within his divine kingdom.

That is, 'pseudo-god-kings' like the Hearth and Family Goddess Hestia would be no stronger than a major god within Li Mochen's divine kingdom.

Of course, if Odin and Ahura attacked with their armies, the situation would be different. But with his two 'Heavenly Will Legions' stationed there, even if the two pantheons joined forces, it would be difficult to conquer his divine kingdom in a short time.

Li Mochen had such confidence, stemming from his ever-expanding church. The believer base, which had surged to 2.6 billion, provided him with ample divine power to supply his divine kingdom and confront these two pantheons. Crucially, at least 230 million of these believers were in a state of extreme piety. The faith power they provided alone was enough to sustain a complete pantheon.

Such was the value of a divine kingdom and believers! Even ancient gods of divine rank twenty needed faith power.

Moreover, in times of crisis, Li Mochen could transfer a 'Destiny Knight Order' into his divine kingdom to participate in battle.

"That is our duty."

Thetis paused, then hesitantly offered advice: "Your Majesty, as your subject, I am pleased to see you have a place in the World Core. But is it too early to engage in the conflict over the Root at this time?"

"It is indeed early, but time waits for no one."

If possible, Li Mochen would have waited until his 'Zhou Tian Star Sword' and the new 'Divine Will' sniper rifle were in hand before intervening.

But the current situation would not allow him to wait until then.

"Of course I am confident, Thetis. Just like this time defusing the seismic waves—"

Then he laughed self-deprecatingly: "If it really doesn't work, I can always retreat to the main material plane."

"Then please remember that!"

Thetis said no more. She knew this was Li Mochen's most reliable fallback.

What she truly feared was that Li Mochen, overly concerned with his responsibility as 'God-King', would fight to the death within his divine kingdom against Odin, Ahura, and others.

"Please remember, as long as you exist, even if the gods here die now, they still have a chance to be resurrected. But if you are gone, this pantheon has no future."

Of course, only a very few could truly be resurrected—those above major god with relatively stable divine rank imprints at the Root, and those of great value to Li Mochen and this pantheon.

But Thetis did not consider weak gods of literature, art, song, and dance as their kind.

※※※※

The last to arrive were the 'Supreme Dragon God' Io and the 'Earth Dragon God' Magnus. The former was a dragon with nine heads and nine powers, legend has it that he was the origin of all dragons in this world.

But that was not true. Before the birth of humanity, there was an age of dragons in this bright world. Countless dragons roamed the earth until a massive impact that destroyed the entire world occurred.

The Supreme Dragon God 'Io' was one of the more powerful prehistoric dragons, who had fortunately survived the catastrophe and lived to the present.

Of course, 'Io' did not appear in his true form but manifested beside Li Mochen as a white-haired man in his forties, in the prime of life.

"I will fight for you, my Majesty!"

Although the Supreme Dragon God Io held a seat in Li Mochen's court and enjoyed the treatment of a deputy god-king, he still bowed his head slightly to show the distinction between lord and vassal: "Though it is too early, I will not stop you. This battle is very important—for you, for Gaia, for this world. My offspring and I will assist you."

As he spoke, several dragons over 1,200 meters in length entered Li Mochen's divine kingdom.

Among dragons, 'Eternal Dragons' were comparable to major gods, typically 900 meters long. Above them were 'Chaos Dragons', 1,200 meters long, with strength comparable to main gods.

At least five Chaos Dragons had now arrived in Li Mochen's divine kingdom.

"I will remember your clan's help."

Li Mochen knew that this one had come at the invitation of 'Gaia'. As a newly emerged god-king, he did not have enough face to make Io act for him.

Although since the mythical age, powerful dragons like Nidhogg, Bahamut, and Fafnir had appeared, with the most powerful like 'Tiamat' even becoming the origin of the Babylonian pantheon, and the Egyptian god of power, war, desert, storm, and foreigners 'Set', who nearly defeated the entire Egyptian pantheon at his peak, and even the Abyssal Lord 'Satan' likely having a dragon as his true form.

Under Io's leadership, the dragon clan had always lain low, rarely participating in conflicts among the gods.

Presumably only Gaia could make him commit his entire clan.

Of course, there might also be the righteous cause of opposing 'outer gods'. Yet in the past, when Zeus, Ahura, and Odin successively established pantheons in the bright world, this Supreme Dragon God did not intervene.

But understanding that did not mean he should not acknowledge the favor. At least on the surface, Io was acting under the banner of aiding him, the Heaven's Mandate God-King, and he did benefit from it.

The arrival of these dragons meant Li Mochen was fully prepared. Bismarck's feedback was also good: only five gods had left his pantheon.

But before that—in fact, during these few days—seventeen other gods with certain combat capabilities had joined his pantheon.

Thus, the strength of the Destiny Pantheon had not been weakened but had grown considerably.

After this, Li Mochen acted without hesitation. The first thing he did was, with the support of the gods, lift his magic tower and the surrounding magic tower array into his divine kingdom.

In his plan, this 'Destiny Home' magic tower was the core of the Destiny Divine Kingdom. A divine kingdom with 'Destiny Home' as its seat was one he could truly rely on, a fortress capable of contending with god-kings.

Unfortunately, it was not yet tall enough. Li Mochen could have expanded it to thirty-two floors, but he lacked the time and manpower to build it up.

Moreover, once the 'Destiny Home' magic tower ascended into the divine kingdom, it could no longer come out, meaning Li Mochen would lose a major weapon in the main material plane.

The other towers in the magic tower array did not have this concern; they could still come and go freely. However, lifting dozens of magic towers into the Destiny Divine Kingdom at once was still somewhat difficult, as it was not entirely a real world and required the power of the gods.

This was because the magic tower array was too massive; its entry would cause large-scale collapse of space within the divine kingdom, due to insufficiently complete laws and spatial structure.

But when the 'Destiny Home' magic tower was fully stabilized at the center of the divine kingdom, the entire Destiny Divine Kingdom underwent a tremendous change. Everything began to evolve toward a real world.

Li Mochen's foresight and planning from ten years ago began to bear fruit. His magic tower array not only imitated the 'World Core' but also had the function of sorting out willpower and primal force, allowing the divine kingdom to use them more effectively rather than letting them drift and surge disorderly within it.

In the future, Li Mochen would also send the newly acquired dozen or so Moshlah warships and the 'Odero' battleship into the divine kingdom as pillars. This would not only expand the divine kingdom's area but also greatly increase its defensive capabilities.

This plan could not yet be carried out because, before this, he did not even have the strength or resources to modify the 'Odero'.

And just as the evolution of the divine kingdom largely subsided, Li Mochen, at the top floor of the 'Destiny Home' magic tower, once again picked up his 'Longinus Holy Spear'.

"Stop!"

A cold snort containing supreme authority entered Li Mochen's ears and consciousness. At the same time, Odin's phantom appeared before Li Mochen.

"If you dare to throw that spear, I will spare no cost to put you to death!"

At the same time, another god, whose divine body radiated endless light, also projected here.

"Gaia cannot guarantee your safety. After you throw that spear, I assure you, you will fall into dire straits!"

Beside them was the Night Goddess Nyx, a cold smile on her face: "Andre, you cannot think that after this, we will tolerate your existence. If you plan to rely on Gaia's credibility, then death will be your final outcome."

The cost for them to project their consciousness directly into Li Mochen's divine kingdom was immense, yet these god-kings did so without hesitation, simultaneously exerting tremendous mental pressure on him.

Li Mochen, however, ignored them, continuing to pour all the power he could muster into the spear. Lightning of God-Slaying, Material Annihilation, Death Gaze, Star Destruction, Fate Trajectory, and many other forbidden spells and supreme techniques he had raised to at least level forty-five began to converge at the spear tip.

Odin's gaze and will turned even colder: "Andre Li Wieldenstein, I will make you realize what a foolish thing you are doing!"

Li Mochen did not reply. His response was to hurl the 'Longinus Holy Spear' without hesitation.

The blood-colored spear, entwined with his multicolored divine power, shot through layers of space like lightning, breaking through powerful barriers, and sent Tyr, Heimdall, and other Norse gods flying.

It continued until it reached Odin's throne aboard the battleship 'Kritaskov'. There, the spear was halted by a powerful force.

The All-Father of the Aesir on his throne had opened his single eye. With a cold stare, he stopped the 'Longinus Holy Spear' from advancing any further.

But this also meant that his main consciousness had withdrawn from the World Core and returned here.

"I said, before we start contending for the authority of the Root, we must kill him!"

The Dark God Hodr was already in a rage: "See? He has made all Father's efforts come to nothing!"

Even the Queen Frigg was furious: "He must pay the price—the price of death! Odin, we can no longer tolerate him."

She could feel that the moment Odin's main consciousness withdrew from the World Core, all the 'territory' they had fought for over ten days was lost, melting away.

Even the part of Odin's divine thought imprint from the Beast World had been slightly eroded.

Thor, the Thunder God, said nothing, but the lightning radiating from his body filled the entire temple. He had already left, locking his will onto the Destiny Divine Kingdom, stepping through the void.

Odin did not speak, nor did he immediately counterattack. He even watched the 'Longinus Holy Spear' before him dissolve into countless motes of light without any obstruction.

But those familiar with him knew that his mood was extremely bad, his anger and murderous intent exceedingly intense.

At this moment, their king had not yet acted only because Nyx and Ahura were still in the World Core, participating in the struggle there.

Yet the entire divine kingdom called 'Asgard' and this battleship 'Kritaskov'—all their energy was being drawn and concentrated by Odin, building up for a strike.

"Boom!"

A storm from the World Core shook the minds of the gods.

It was another god-king, Ahura Mazda, also withdrawing from the Root. His fate was similar to Odin's—all previous gains lost.

Next came Nyx. Three minutes later, Nyx followed in the footsteps of Ahura and Odin.

"He has done it after all. Committed such a foolish act."

In the divine realm of Liberty, the Night Goddess was gazing in an extremely gloomy manner toward a certain direction in the sky: "I actually kind of liked him, after all, he was an original deity of this world."

"I think, on the contrary, this is actually a good thing."

The Goddess of Liberty, Eris, let a smile spill from her lips: "A struggle over origins like yours will drag on endlessly. Not to mention half a month, even half a year won't bring a result."

"You don't understand!"

Nyx shook her head, and then a patch of darkness spread here. The figure of this goddess also vanished completely from this place.

"But what is there that I don't understand?"

Eris sneered, but then followed her mother into the divine realm called 'Destiny'.

The moment she set foot there, a vast and dazzling thunderbolt flashed before her eyes.

It was the Thunder God Thor, who had manifested a giant body a thousand eight hundred meters tall, swinging his 'Mjolnir' and 'Stormbreaker', directly collapsing a small part of the Destiny divine realm.

—He was not only the god in charge of thunder and lightning, but also mastered power, storm, war, and fertility. And the force of that hammer strike made even Eris's heart shake with shock.

She thought that although this god's divine authority, like hers, was only at the level of pseudo-truth, if the two of them were to fight, the loser would definitely be her, Eris.

This Norse Thunder God's strength was already infinitely approaching Zeus's, and might even become stronger on some future day.

But Thor could not cause more destruction; his opponent soon appeared—a giant wolf with ice-red eyes and silver-white fur. Its body carried not only fire and ice but also thunderous power almost as strong as Thor's.

Boom!

The first exchange between the two stirred up a huge surge of magical energy. Thor's heavy hammer smashed violently into Fenrir's face, nearly flattening the huge wolf's head into a meat patty.

But Fenrir did not retreat; it did not even defend, instead using its sharp claws with all its might to leave a scratch on Thor's chest.

Both these powerful deities and mythical creatures possessed immensely strong recovery and regeneration abilities; their bodies restored themselves to their original state in an instant.

However, a black aura had now appeared on Thor's chest, spreading and expanding again throughout his body.

That was Fenrir's poison, a pseudo-truth-level toxin that Fenrir had injected into Thor's body.

"Look! Great Lord Thor, isn't this what you are all afraid of?"

Fenrir laughed heartily, which, combined with its face flattened again by the hammer, seemed extremely eerie.

At this moment, Thor's 'Stormbreaker' also severed one of its legs, but this wolf left a deep claw mark on Thor's thigh.

It made no defense at all, only exchanging wounds with Thor.

"My lord is quite formidable, isn't he? He controls life and vitality, and has many followers—forty times the number you had in the mythological age! Here, I am never afraid of being hurt. So let's compete and see who falls first."

Thor's response was even more violent thunder. His hammer blow flattened Fenrir's chest.

Yet as Fenrir had said, this injury was completely futile against him. In less than a thousandth of a breath, the giant wolf was whole again, standing spiritedly before Thor.

Watching only three exchanges between the two, Eris knew their battle would last a long time, possibly not ending within a day or two, until their divine power was exhausted and a victor could emerge.

So Eris continued deeper into the Destiny divine realm, a strange light appearing in her eyes.

She noticed that Frigg, the queen of the gods at the same sub-king level, was not present. Was she sitting in 'Asgard' in Odin's place? That Aesir king of the gods was still so cautious even at this moment.

Just then, a huge rift was torn open in the sky of the divine realm. A figure wrapped in darkness and filthy evil entered this world filled with auspicious clouds.

Undoubtedly, this was Ahura's evil avatar 'Ahriman', also known as 'Angra Mainyu'!

His arrival instantly caused a large-scale 'pollution' of this divine land. A full thousand square kilometers of ground turned into an evil land like the abyss of hell.

The Lord of Destiny had to be thankful that the number of his prayerful ones here was small; otherwise, in that moment, all prayerful ones or divine warriors within that thousand square kilometers would have turned into demons or fallen angels.

But soon, the purifying power from the Lord of Destiny filled this place.

Then a giant fifteen hundred meters tall arrived—that was the 'Eternal Titan' Atlas. He rode the thunder, forcibly breaking through the layers of darkness and purifying most of the evil and filth.

"Stop advancing, Lady Eris!"

Just as Eris was focusing her gaze on the battle between 'Ahriman' and 'Atlas', a huge nine-headed dragon flapped its massive wings and landed before her.

"I made a promise to someone that you cannot participate in their battle."

"Io?"

Eris looked at the nine-headed dragon before her, smiling sweetly: "I heard that your nine heads often quarrel with each other?"

"That is indeed the case."

The Supreme Dragon God Io replied calmly: "But Eris, I have survived until now for a reason. After all, in many situations, quarreling does not help survival; we must achieve unity of opinion."

Eris's divine authorities of 'Freedom' and 'Strife' had no effect on this being. The nine laws of the nine dragon heads were being unified by a single force.

It was a very peculiar conceptual divine authority called 'Oneness'.

The Goddess of Liberty could not help but frown again; she once more felt the limitations of her own power.

"So? Do you think Gaia would have let you grow to this point for no reason?"

Io looked at the white-robed goddess with cold dragon eyes: "Her foresight and wisdom are beyond even Zeus's reach."

※※※※

Meanwhile, in the Magic Tower of Destiny's Domain, the battle between Li Mochen, Odin, Ahura, and Nyx had already begun.

These three divine kings were far beyond Eris in power; they broke in directly from the most central and most defensively powerful part of the divine realm. The place they appeared was the top floor of the Magic Tower of Destiny's Domain.

As they had announced, they all went all out in this battle.

Odin wore an eagle helmet and golden armor, held 'Gungnir' in his left hand and 'Rune Shield' in his right, and wore the 'Draupnir Ring' on his wrist. His two fierce wolves—Geri, who mastered 'Greed', and Freki, representing 'Hunger'—followed at his side.

With a single thrust of his spear, he shattered all of Li Mochen's defenses, nearly piercing his body. This one's combat skill was undoubtedly world-class and unique.

And Odin's truth-level war and combat could amplify any power related to war and combat several times over, effectively integrating them.

At the last moment, Li Mochen used the power of the Kunlun Mirror to leave the spot and flash to another position on the same floor of the tower. He simultaneously froze time and folded space; only thus could he ensure escape from Odin's pursuit.

But what brought him danger was not only the divine spear in Odin's hand. There were also the two fierce wolves, which, though not directly participating in combat, were forcibly devouring Li Mochen's divine power and strength.

And Ahura had manifested a blazing sun in the sky above the Magic Tower of Destiny's Domain, shining upon this place. Using his truth-level 'Sun' and 'Light', 'Light Speed', and 'Fire', he was distorting the laws and transforming this world.

He did not rashly join the battle for now, but fully assisted Odin, allowing Odin's body to move as light, and the spear to burn with sacred holy fire.

Meanwhile, the Night Goddess Nyx lurked in Li Mochen's shadow.

From time to time, dark blades invisible in the darkness stabbed out from the shadows, and her truth-level 'Shadow' and 'Void' also absorbed and devoured Li Mochen's divine power.

Though this place was filled with light, shadow and light always coexisted. Light could not eliminate darkness, and in darkness there was always light.

"A clever method—using the main body to fight, while the secondary body fully controls that Kunlun Mirror. Your time-sequence power is close to pseudo-truth, and your space power is also strong."

Odin was unstoppable; almost every blow was a weight Li Mochen could not bear.

His 'Gungnir' had already destroyed the top floor of this tower more than seven times. Normally, this Magic Tower of Destiny's Domain would have been leveled and obliterated by his狂暴 power, and even the surrounding tower array and the entire divine realm should have collapsed under his strength.

But Li Mochen's divine power always restored the tower to its original state in an instant.

After all, this was a realm created by his consciousness and divinity; to some extent, it represented the manifestation of his mind. As long as he had enough divine power, Li Mochen could theoretically restore any matter or life destroyed in this world.

"But we will eventually find your secondary body. As long as there is light and darkness in this divine realm..."

Nyx sneered, using words to disturb Li Mochen's emotions and confidence.

But the effect was minimal. To Nyx's surprise, not only had she not found Li Mochen's secondary body, but Ahura had also found nothing.

Li Mochen's secondary body was clearly hidden nearby, yet it was in a state where they could not hear, see, or perceive it.

This one seemed to be using the 'Kunlun Mirror' more and more adeptly; where the mirror's light shone, the true location of Li Mochen's main body became increasingly difficult to discern.

As a god of light, Ahura could theoretically suppress any mythical artifact related to light. But the 'Kunlun Mirror' was clearly not among them; it indeed operated on pure time-sequence and void power. This artifact was a perfect match for Li Mochen's destiny divine authority.

This also caused a shade of displeasure to gradually appear in Nyx's eyes.

The three of them, each with the power to instantly destroy this Lord of Destiny's divine body, found their truth-level power almost useless when he kept avoiding battle.

"How long will you drag this out, Odin? Do you still insist on some warrior's morality? You have always understood the essence of war, haven't you?"

Thousands of years ago, the Viking pirates and Nordic tribes burned, killed, and plundered everywhere, committing every evil.

"Shut up!"

Odin coldly stared at a patch of darkness ahead, then his figure vanished from here.

He appeared at another temple in this Destiny divine realm, about two thousand kilometers from the Magic Tower of Destiny's Domain. Most of Li Mochen's subordinate gods were gathered here.

But when Odin swung 'Gungnir', blasting twelve gods here into particles of dust, neither Li Mochen's main body nor secondary body appeared.

And just as Odin was about to launch a second thrust, the divine aura of those twelve gods appeared on another side of the divine realm.

"'Life Stasis' and 'Death Prohibition'?"

Nyx looked in astonishment at Li Mochen's main body standing on the top of the magic tower. She had certainly heard of the two forbidden spells 'Life Stasis' and 'Death Prohibition'. She had also heard that Li Mochen had fixed these two forbidden spells in his magic tower, thereby gaining the service of over twenty adult dragons and demigod spellcasters, and even ancient dragons.

But she had not expected these two forbidden spells to perform so powerfully in Li Mochen's divine realm.

Li Mochen had actually extracted the concept of death from this divine realm and placed all life in a state of stasis.

As long as Li Mochen, the caster, had not died and still had enough magical energy and divine power, then no one in this divine realm would die, no matter how severe the trauma they suffered.

"Here, the only one you can kill is me!"

Li Mochen, with the 'Destiny Sword' floating beside him, looked at the three divine kings present with a gaze containing provocation and mockery.

"Beyond that, all your methods are useless, the three of you!"