Light wreathed around the Demon Sovereign at those words. A resplendent black cloak, dotted by golden stars, fluttered majestically around him, while a black-gold long sword appeared in his hands. At the same time, the demon Demigods distanced themselves from their master, divinity welling up all around them.

Hundreds of grey stakes and similarly-coloured sigils appeared behind him. Sonic booms echoed all around the plains of the Wildlands as these stakes launched themselves at the Demon Sovereign and his subordinates, propelled to incredible speeds by both his will and his sigils.

Black-gold light streaked out in response, and explosions followed as they intercepted his stakes. Gaius took in that sight calmly — he could tell that the Demon Sovereign was almost on same level as him.

A Boundless One. On one hand was a perfect being, who wasn’t quite yet a great god. On the other side was a great god, who wasn’t quite yet perfect. Who would win here?

The hallmark of such a being was the ability to truly create something. The Demon Sovereign had nearly perfected that feat; he had already touched that threshold.

“Impressive,” Gaius muttered.

The storm of black lights intensified, and from behind them, Asteria replied, “The strongest Demigod of Orb…I think you deserve that title. But there’s a difference between me and you, and that’s—”

Huge torrents of qi tunnelled through both air and space as the Demon Sovereign’s subordinates launched a ruinous attack at him. Gaius could feel space shatter at their approach, and with a thought, hundreds of grey cubes materialised in their way.

Orb shook from the impact.

At his level, and that of the Demon Sovereign’s, battles were decided by thoughts and wills. Gaius, of course, had the choice of getting close and personal, but the Demon Sovereign was clearly not interested in tussling in close combat—

A black-gold figure abruptly appeared in front of him, and Gaius felt some shock as he slammed his Terminus against an incoming overhead slash, overpowering the Demon Sovereign with brute strength. His right foot lashed out at the same time, and the Demon Sovereign shook as Gaius landed a solid kick. Multiple openings revealed themselves a moment later, and a tinge of disappointment welled up within Gaius as he closed in for the kill.

The world changed around him at that moment.

Time seemed to rewind, and once again, that overhead slash was bearing down on him once more. Gaius’ Terminus was already in motion, but that overhead slash was actually a feint, and the black-gold blade left a mirage as it evaded his counter.

Wind whistled as the vanished blade reappeared to strike at the left side of his torso. Gaius responded instinctively, his left elbow and knee clamping down and shooting up at the same time. A solid thump shook the two combatants as Gaius caught the blade with his kneecap and elbow at the same time, preventing it from cutting into his flank.

Grey light erupted out from him as the Demon Sovereign shuddered from the unexpected defence, blowing his body back slightly. His Terminus followed up a moment later, drawing a trajectory that would—

The world shifted again. Once again, the Terminus’ counterstrike had been baited out by a feint, and Gaius’ elbow and knee were on their way to intercept a slash directed at his side. However, right before they could pinch the Demon God’s blade, the black-gold blade paused for a moment.

A jolt ran through Gaius’ body as his knee and elbow slammed into each other. Abandoning his attack altogether, Gaius created a barrier in front of him, which shattered two seconds later as the Demon Sovereign resumed his slash.

These two seconds was enough for Gaius to pull back slightly, but he couldn’t do anything else. Somehow, the Demon Sovereign had the ability to redo the fight over and over, and—

He’s using Divine Will. You’re no match for him…well, given your freakish combat prowess, you cannot defeat him.

As Oculus’ words echoed in his mind again, Gaius thought about the innumerable figures of the great gods, when they were locked in battle with the Demon God. Each of them represented a separate reality, and the strength of their wills determined how each reality went.

That was all he knew, however.

Panting slightly, Gaius couldn’t help but shake his head. From the looks of it, he had gone through three separate battles of Divine Will by himself. Each of them represented a possible reality, but it would seem that Asteria could only add all that much nuance to his opening move. Two feints, layered upon each other, was his maximum for now.

“Terrifying,” the Demon Sovereign muttered. “I could only have three possible outcomes for this opening fight?”

“Maybe,” Gaius replied evasively, trying to hide his fatigue, which was more mental than physical at this point. Blinking forward, Gaius forced himself into melee range. The Terminus carved out a silvery arc, forcing the Demon Sovereign to block his strike. Black-gold light shattered a moment later, and his blade sliced through the Demon Sovereign with impunity.

The world blurred once more, but this time, the Demon Sovereign chose to sidestep his overhead slash. Without missing a beat, Gaius forcibly curved the trajectory of his slash, slicing through the Demon Sovereign’s waist.

Like clockwork, the scene shifted once more, and Gaius’ fatigue intensified as he tore through increasingly complex variants of the Demon Sovereign’s attempt to dodge.

It was as if his overhead slash was a predetermined action. No matter how aware Gaius was of the anomaly, his body would always lead with an overhead slash, with the rest of his attacks shifting in accordance with the Demon Sovereign’s actions. However, none of his foe’s moves could counter his opening attacks, all the way until the fifty-second or fifty-third iteration, when Asteria responded to his attack with the simplest of counterstrikes — a huge release of power.

Gaius tumbled backwards helplessly, a grey barrier flickering around him and protecting him from the sudden release of black-gold energy. A prismatic light was approaching him, but he couldn’t muster up the mental strength to respond.

His senses had been dulled, overcome by sheer repetition, and as he tried to straighten himself, a corner of his mind noted that only three seconds had passed. The fifty-odd exchanges had occurred in just a period of three seconds, which had been replayed over and over until the Demon Sovereign found an acceptable outcome.

It was this dullness that left him open to the demon Demigods, whose combined attacks had overwhelmed the perfunctory defences he had set up.

He could barely turn his head before the flood of divinity smashed into his fatigued frame.