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The sphere exploded in size, swallowing everything within its insides.
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[You have entered an Authority’s Mandate. All stats have been divided by two.]
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"So that’s where the gods' confidence in my loss came from."
?
Akhenamen’s voice sounded empty due to its robotic quality, yet it was pretty clear to anyone who knew him that he was still very much calm. His sixth-tier transcendent stats had been reduced back to tier three. Making him far weaker than the Divine Law before him.
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[Dad! Careful!]
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[Attack incoming, Hierarch. Are you sure about your plan?]
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"Do not be worried about me, you two, I’m not losing until my promises are fulfilled."
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The Authority's Mandate didn’t stop at just reducing his stats; it also made every attack a guaranteed hit, as Akhenamen was simply unable to follow and evade the attacks. Every application of the Divine Law’s powers would strike Akhenamen, directly appearing on top of his body. As if his body was now part of the “domain” the Law controlled.
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His HPs were reducing at such a speed that it would scare anyone, including him, if not for Syllena and Ascylla’s counts keeping him calm.
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[3000/4701 HP]
?
Dimensional Cuts would shred his body, and Matter Sundering explosions would remove part of his body. He would have died long ago if not for the massive amount of Living Silver being consumed to keep him alive.
?
[2000/4701 HP]
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His body had reached such a state that if he had not been made from Living Silver, any normal being of flesh would die right then. The gods' cheering had turned silent as they stared at the Cygilite being slowly slaughtered.
?
Ruby-Khion swiftly stood up; the sun, floating behind her, started to glow brighter, getting closer and closer. Her sword was pulled out, ready to defend her sister’s chosen one, who was to safeguard her Sapphyre.
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Even Finion’s face, which had worn a funny smile, now looked serious; childish war cries could be heard from his realm, summoned behind him. Both gods were ready to save the Cygilite. Each with their own reasons.
?
Most surprisingly, a third goddess had stood up, her hammer and leather apron being her main symbols: Gnomya, Goddess of Mechanists, Gnomes and Machines. One of the few gods who had never fought in the Forgotten War.
?
The power she summoned despite her much smaller size than Ruby-Khion or any of the other gods was so great it shattered any thought of defiance amongst most gods.
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[1000/4701 HP]
?
Ruby-Khion’s feet started to crush the barrier separating her from Akhenamen and the Divine Law. Her eyes dared any of the gods to stop her. None seemed to particularly fear her, but none interfered with her actions. Gnomya’s eyes would thunder at any god lifting as much as a finger.
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They weren’t gonna trigger a divine war with Gnomya and two other gods, for a single Cygilite which was favored by the System.
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[1/4701 HP]
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Just as Ruby-Khion’s hand was about to wrap around Akhenamen to protect him, her realm fully summoned behind her, bringing her to the top power of a rank ten Transcendent. The Divine Law’s Mandate harmlessly strikes the goddess’s hand. But just as her fingers would wrap around Akhenamen’s body…
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[Nanites Transfer]
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The gods all felt a sudden overwhelming level of Mandate Authority spread through the entire Arena, making quite a few of the gods who had started to get up to leave the arena sit back down immediately.
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Akhenamen’s entire stats had been transferred to his Sight. A very risky move, one that could even spell instant death for him. Yet… every single Gauss Arcs, Dimensional Cut, every single bubble of Matter Sundering was frozen. All about to strike Akhenamen, yet stopping at the last moment.
?
His understanding of the Intent of Gauss Unmaking shooting through the roof, reaching the status of a Law and of a Divine Intent right after. Stopping right at the edge of Divine Law. Yet this was enough to take over the Divine Law’s Mandate, his stat so high the Divine Law was simply unable to wrestle back control despite its greater understanding.
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"Well done, Ascylla. Perfectly timed."
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[Thank you, Hierarch.]
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"Let’s fight back now. Use the remaining Living Silver to give me back my HP without making me lose my status as an Argent Sovereign."
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[Very well, Hierarch.]
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[Fuck him up, Dad!! ( ????? ) ]
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"Langage young lady. But I very much will."
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With glowing green eyes burning with wrath, Akhenamen’s hand spread in the same way the Divine Law had done a few minutes before. A clear provocation. The Authority's Mandate now belonged to him, and the new rules applied to this arena benefited him.
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And with his boosted understanding of the Divine Intent of Gauss Unmaking granted by shooting his Sight stat up into the 20 000, a level well above even rank ten, understanding the Intent, turning into a Law, then into a Divine Intent had been easy as counting to ten.
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The block stopping him from reaching the Divine Law level was actually because of something else. He didn’t know what yet, but he had a few theories he would discuss later.
?
Thousands of Dimensional cuts would suddenly start to slash at the Divine Law, hundreds of bubbles of Matter Sundering appearing all over its body, tens of thousands of Gauss Arcs slamming into the Divine Law’s body. Turning into shreds.
?
This complete role reversal was so sudden and so swift that in barely five seconds, nothing remained of the Divine Law standing inside the arena built by the System. Notifications started to ring in his ears as the battle was finally over. His long silver tail swung lazily behind him.
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[Is it over, Dad?]
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"I think it is."
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“So my sister chose an insane champion? I’d have expected that of myself, not her.”
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"That is awfully rude, Miss Ruby-Khion."
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“You allowed yourself to almost die just to get as much time to understand a Divine Law. I wouldn’t call that sane. Why didn’t you just use the stat switch right at the start?”
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"A secret I will not be sharing."
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“Fine by me. I’m still waiting for you at Selinad. Lose even one of my children's souls, and I’ll fuck you up worse than that Divine Law did.”
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"Understandable. And I swear that I do love my life even if it doesn’t look like it."
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Ruby-Khion’s face was leaning over his tired body. Her face alone dwarfed his entire massive body, showing that her face alone had to be the size of Cygislax.
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"What is it with gods and size?"
This seemingly casual comment made Ruby-Khion just laugh softly before smiling mischievously.
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“It’s not by choice. I’ll only tell you why if you reach Selinad.”
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"Fair. Did you go through the same thing as me?"
?
“Most do, but every Intent, Law, Divine Intent, or Divine Law has different ways to be absorbed. Mine was a battle, too, but I know Saphyrra’s Divine Law was obtained by a battle of wits. Not fists. Time to go back down for you now.”
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Ruby-Khion’s finger, the tip alone was as big as his body, gently poked Akhenamen’s face, suddenly sending him back down toward Zenthia. Looking behind him, he realised where the arena was located.
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"Zenthia’s stratosphere, uh? It makes sense, I guess."
?
***
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Down on Zenthia, Sofya was walking back and forth, clearly worried about her senior. Akhenamen might not have realised it, but he had become almost like a teacher to Sofya. Valencia, who was staring at the young gnomish girl, sighed, opening her mouth to calm her down once again.
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A loud crack slammed into everyone’s eardrums, making them stare into the now broken sky from which Akhenamen’s body gently floated down until his feet softly floated above the last step of the staircase, which led to the floating cog sphere.
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His body naturally took a cross-legged position, his hands on top of his knees as the waterfalls of Liquid Silver once again flowed toward him, being slowly but surely absorbed and refined by Akhenamen’s body once more.
?
Ascylla worked repairing his body and bringing it back to its top condition while Akhenamen and Syllena worked together reading through the numerous notifications and going through all the brand new understanding he had gained from absorbing the Divine Law of Gauss Unmaking.
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“See? What did I tell you, kid? He won.”
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“Where’s the Intent?”
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“It’s in him now.”
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“So Intent do get absorbed!”
?
“Yes and no. Intents have their own will. If you beat them at their own game, they will stay with you until you fully master their domain, then they’ll go back to a place where they are present in abundance. They are like forces of nature. Neither good nor bad.”
“So what do we do now?”
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“We wait until he is done understanding the Intent.”