I can easily handle this monster while Zern takes the time to absorb the mana aura. I haven't seen the face of Mammon in a long time. This is a powerful monster that shapeshifts into things you never want to see again. That's the impression I can draw. I look over to Zern and see that he is in a trance-like state, taking the mana aura into his body. "What kind of creature are you? I've been alive for a very long time, and I've never encountered something like you. The ability to mimic forms and actual powers isn't something you would see every day." The demonic face of Mammon only stays neutral. It must be a puppet to a separate power here. I can't locate it with my own senses.

He jumps at me with force and tries to land attacks. I'm far stronger than he is. He's a mere paper tiger in front of a storm. I'm not The God Eater for nothing. "I didn't expect the child to have an ally of your power... We are do nothing against you in this form... This place, however, is older than you can imagine..." When I was called here, I admit my surprise. This place is unknown to me. "This place settled the future of Gaia, Overworld, and Underworld... The history held here is far more precious than you could ever fathom... You can't keep me from killing the child forever..." As he says that last part, he splits into two. Then those two spilt into two. So a total of four Mammon copies.

My curiosity about this power almost makes me want to see what he can do. "It is you who doesn't know what he is dealing with, shapeshifter." I take a deep breath and gather mana in my lungs—two of the creatures launch at me and the other two at Zern. I open my mouth and release a giant blast in the direction of the two that are charging at Zern. They are instantly engulfed and annihilated. I turn my head in the direction of the two charging me, and I get one of them before I run out of breath. "Your power is far greater than what Zern is worth at this moment in time... If you allow this to happen... He will eventually surpass you..." Trying to convince me of such things means it's truly desperate.

I can sense that Zern is getting more and more power absorbed, and the more he does, the more this creature panics. "The boy saved my life, and he has a very long way to go to reach my power. The question is, why are you so desperate to stop him? He isn't evil, and this place is just an impression of something that happened a long time ago. Are you a manifestation of a beings fears, or the last thing someone would expect to see out here? A confrontation with fate perhaps..." The creature that takes Mammons form doesn't react to my words. This place is unexplainable and before my time. It says a lot for its power to be here still.

It divides its self again, and I immediately retaliate with another massive breath attack from my mouth. I destroy them as fast as they come, but it's still a persistent little parasite. "I will not be able to get past you like this... I can show you the future in which your little friend gets this power... You'll see why I'm so desperate..." More lies and tricks to buy time. I take another breath as it bursts into a bunch of fast-moving creatures. I wasn't expecting that. I put a barrier around Zern and point my mouth at the ground. Instead of pure hot energy that burns anything, I make it fire that comes out of my mouth. It recoils in all directions to kill the many enemies surrounding Zern and me.

I look around as the smoke and fire clear. The barrier is still up and protecting Zern. There are no signs of that creature. "Looks like that's taken care of." I spread out my senses and don't feel it anywhere. I walk over to the stone pedestal as Zern lays against it, covered in his own blood. He isn't impaled with swords anymore, which is good. I look down at him, and his eyes are closed as I can feel the power is almost fully absorbed into him. I get a tingle telling me to jump, and I do. A blast of energy passes under me and nearly hits Zern. I land and look at where it came from. That blast of energy is very familiar, like an exact copy.

The creature has returned, and this time it's taken my form. It can imitate my looks, but not my power. "Your powers are extraordinary, Fenrir... You would have had lived into the top 50 left in this old battlefield..." Only top 50. I'm insulted now. I take a breath and power up. The cheap imitation of me does the same. We unleash our attacks at the same time, and the giant beams of energy collide. Mine quickly overpowers his, and he dodges out of the way right before it overtakes him. "I stand corrected... More like top 45..." Playing on my pride is one way to get me riled up. I'm smart enough not to let it get to me, though.

I jump with my teeth bared and sink it in his nape. He doesn't make a sound and turns into a pile of mush and leaves the pressure between my jaws. "This is starting to get really old!" I'll admit he is a very annoying opponent to fight. He doesn't take damage, and when he takes a fatal attack, he regenerates somehow—the blob reforms into my form and dashes to Zern. I jump up high and blast him with another powerful beam of energy. I get a direct hit, which slows him down enough for me to catch up and block his path. "Don't focus on an unconscious opponent. The one you should be worried about is me." Trying to distract him is moot. Worth a shot, though.

Zern is getting closer and closer to full absorption. If an interruption happens now, it'll likely fail. I power up my entire body and fill every fiber of my being with power. If I can't kill him with conventional attacks, I'll need to use divine attacks. He up feeling me draw on my divine power, and the more I draw on mine, the more serious the creature's look gets. "You are really so ignorant... If only you knew the truth..." More empty words to distract me from his actual plan. My fur transforms from a dark black and deep purple to a bright white. My runic tattoos turn red, and my power increases several millionfold. "That much power will destroy everything in front of you..." That's the whole idea.

Attacks infused with divinity have the unique ability to destroy anything at all in its entirety. No amount of mortal magic and power can stand against it. Only another divinity can stand against another. This battle has come to an end. "I wouldn't do that if I were you... How do you think your little friend would feel if his travel companion was killed in this attack... She is behind me on the other side of the gate..." Damn. I forgot about her. I felt her sleeping in that tent before I broke through the barrier. If I can't take him out with blasts of power, then physical attacks will have to work. I teleport behind him and sink my teeth in once again.

This time, my bite burns away instead of him liquifying and getting away this time. I throw him into the sky before he completely burns up. I power up another beam and blast him into the open sky. A bright white and red light leaves my mouth. The entire world goes to a shade of grey as I unleash a blast of pure divine power. It rips a perfect hole through the clouds and clears the sky a second later. "Let's see you regenerate from that! Piece of shit!" I'll admit the parasite got to me. I've only had a few opponents as annoying to fight like him. I stop channeling the divinity and go back to my regular look. I turn and see that Zern is almost done as Fenrir thinks that a worldwide announcement goes off.

[World-wide Announcement: The Son of Arch-Angel Michael has succeeded in his task! All players will be returned to all their original continents in 12 hours! The system you have all come to love will undergo an update at this point! A new expansion will be arriving for the players! Everyone get ready for the transfer! When it happens, you'll only be taking what you have on you! Once players reach level 100 tier 2, you can use the teleporters to return to the player continents and continue exploring!]

I feel a huge wave of power surge from Zern. I look closely at him and a smile comes to my face. He absorbed all of the power and looks like he got a boost from it too. Still isn't even comparable to me, but it's a great start. "So how does divinity feel?" He looks at me completely healed and gives a big excited smile. I inspect him myself to only see the new health and mana. He won't be getting any stat boosts till 20% control.

[Slayer (Zern) Lvl.82]

[The Son of Arch-Angel Michael]

16,560,000,000/16,560,000,000 HP

146,600,000,000/146,000,000,000 MP

I can see the rest of everything if I want to, but I'll let him be the first to see everything. While this is going on a new announcement is happening.

[World-wide Announcement: The Old Gods are returning for war! All players and people of Gaia will be thrust into this battle of gods! Be prepared everyone!]