In the past, I killed the Hero.
A Legion Commander, who originally should have died at the hands of the Hero.
An existence that should have disappeared as experience points for the Hero had instead staged a rebellion.
Following the Hero’s Death, the Demon King, like a lost child, took the corpse and vanished.
I saved my life, just as I intended.
However, that was not the end, but the beginning.
What I did was not simply kill the Hero; I broke the Eternal Cycle that the God of Light and the Order of Darkness pursued.
It was only natural for the God of Light and the Order of Darkness to be furious.
Furthermore, the Gritia Continent at that time was a period ruled by the God of Light and the Order of Darkness, where even communication with the gods was possible.
It was not a stage where I could feel relieved just because I had killed someone like a Hero.
It was now time to face gods who were transcendental beings beyond humans—gods of light and darkness who had obtained Lord Tier Status.
But was that even possible?
A god is truly a transcendental existence.
A being who can take all life with a single gesture.
Is it even possible for a human to oppose a god?
It is possible.
While studying the existences known as the Hero and Demon King, as well as the cycle of light and darkness, I learned a few facts.
That there are different types of gods.
The ones we usually think of are the primordial gods who split from the initial chaos.
However, there are other gods besides them, and those are the gods of enlightenment.
Those who were not originally gods but reached the domain of gods through enlightenment.
Cases of Ascension and Nirvana are exactly that.
If a human gains enlightenment, they can reach the domain of gods and become a god themselves.
Therefore, I trained to reach that enlightenment.
What I pursued was to reach the ultimate peak of martial arts and become a Martial God.
To that end, I devoted myself to defeating the Apostles, the messengers sent by the gods.
The Apostles of the gods were far more powerful than the Hero, who was still growing.
Some of them were even powerful enough to use a portion of a god’s power.
There were even quite a few who had almost reached godhood.
However, I did not lose even once.
Through battles with them, I was able to enter a new domain, and I finally obtained the Status I desired.
The Status built through battles where I never lost once was Victory.
I was able to become a unique existence: the God of Victory.
When I reached the domain of gods in that way, I specified one restriction.
‘All my divine authority is only exerted when facing a god. The only power I can exert against any species other than a god is the strength I built as a human.’
An incomplete power that cannot be exerted when facing any existence except a god.
And that incompleteness gave birth to the most powerful force.
By setting a restriction that did not fit divine authority, I triggered the Twilight of the Gods and was able to separate them from humans.
And now, a portion of that power that had once brought the gods to ruin was being manifested.
One of the formulas of victory.
Even though the Twilight of the Gods has been manifested.
There isn’t an incredibly large change.
The Demon King, who seemed to expect something grand to unfold, looked rather flustered instead.
“…Just die!”
The authority of the bastard who turned into a Demon God unfolds.
-Flash!
Eyes decorating the black silhouette—a Ray of Destruction spews from them.
As if looking at a disco ball, multi-colored rays encroached upon the surroundings.
Speed, power, and a gap in the attack where no opening could be seen.
It was an attack that could truly be called a perfect attack, but the bastard’s Ray of Destruction never reached me.
The Ray of Destruction, which had been so fast it caused cognitive dissonance until just a moment ago, slowed down as if it had been paused.
This time, it was not an illusion like applying slow motion.
In reality, the Demon God’s attack toward me—the time of this Ray of Destruction—was flowing slowly.
The reason?
[All authority used within my domain shall manifest its effects very slowly.]
Because I gave the command.
[Formula of Victory: Order]
That was an authority that could only be exerted by unfolding the barrier known as the Twilight of the Gods.
My will soon turns into an absolute law.
In the currently deployed Twilight of the Gods, I gave an Order to slow down the effects of all authority used in that domain, and the Demon God’s Ray of Destruction was approaching slowly due to that law.
At that time, it felt as if it had stopped.
“Step.” I move my feet.
Avoiding the frozen Ray of Destruction, I slowly approached the Demon God.
However, those steps were just as slow as the Demon God’s ray.
It couldn’t be helped.
An Order is the act of creating a law.
In order to manifest this powerful authority, mental concentration was required.
In a state of mental concentration, I cannot perform fast movements or acts of destruction like before.
Which is to say, in the state where I have given an Order, I am nothing more than an ordinary human.
Of course because of that Order, the Demon God’s attack could not reach me and I cannot use other authorities and the Demon God cannot succeed in attacking me because his authority is also manifested slowly.
Since it is a time that has almost stopped, the effect of the authority is worse than not using it at all.
“Thud.”
Finally, I stood before the Demon God.
“…What are you doing?” He blinked his countless eyes and said, “You shouldn’t be able to use authority either while using this annoying law?”
As expected of a Demon God, he saw through the weakness of the Order I manifested, that absolute authority.
“Impressive. The other moronic gods couldn’t admit it until the very end.”
That was praise coming from the heart.
In the past, when I triggered the Twilight of the Gods, the arrogant and foolish gods could not acknowledge me.
The qualification for victory is only exerted when one can look at the enemy holistically.
However, the arrogant bastards could not acknowledge that, and eventually, they had to walk the path of ruin.
But the Demon King—the bastard who has now become a Demon God—was different, he acknowledged me.
As an opponent and as a god with formidable authority.
That is why he could face the truth.
The absolute law possessed by the authority of Order.
That is why he could also grasp the weakness.
That my own authorities are also sealed due to the mental concentration required for the Order.
“A state where neither can exert authority. What is it that you want?”
“Simple.” I held up my fist and replied, “Close combat.”
“…..”
At those words, the Demon God’s eyes narrow.
It couldn’t be helped.
A god is a noble existence.
Their battles are a field where they compete with their respective authorities; they do not vulgarly mix bodies.
This is because they believe mixing bodies is something only primitive creations would do.
That is the same for the Demon God.
Although he was created as a creature, he is an existence created with a portion of the soul of the Order of Darkness.
Somewhere deep inside, the nobility of a god, not a creature, must be dwelling but there is no other way.
“Let’s play along, just once.”
Whether he liked it or not, it was none of my business.
-Whoosh!
I swing my fist.
It is nothing more than an ordinary attack with no authority, not even energy contained within it.
“….”
The Demon God looks at the fist extending normally.
Normally, he would have easily let that fist slip by through teleportation or by twisting dimensions.
But as I said just a moment ago, he and I cannot use authority in this space.
Therefore, he slightly turned his body.
However, my fist struck the bastard’s face exactly as intended from the start.
“Thwack!”
Numerous eyes were decorating the bastard’s body and through those countless eyes, the bastard’s emotions can be seen.
Flustered and shocked.
It couldn’t be helped because he was hit by an attack he clearly thought he had avoided.
“You gods are born with authorities and powers of a different dimension.”
Most gods are born with powerful authority and strength from the moment of their birth.
The same goes for the Demon King.
Although he is a creature, the Demon King, who was born as a perfect being from birth, does not know the perspective of the weak.
“The barrier I deployed, this Twilight of the Gods, was made strictly from the perspective of the weak. Unfortunately, for those like you who have been strong since birth, it can be called a domain of the incomprehensible that you can never understand.” I say that as I extend my fist.
This time, he watched that direction more closely and moved his body cautiously.
However, without fail, the fist again struck the bastard’s abdomen.
“Thwack!”
‘He is no different either.’
And that was the result I had already expected.
The fist I am extending now contained the subtle principles of variation.
To put it simply, it’s a feint.
It’s one of the basic martial arts techniques that a Knight must know, pretending to go straight and then bending the trajectory in the middle.
However, a god who has no need to polish such basic variations through authority, and the Demon King, know nothing of those principles.
The weak struggle.
To somehow deceive the opponent and force an attack through those variations.
Thus, various martial arts and attack methods were derived.
I was now performing the attacks of the weak who struggle to survive, just like when I first transferred to the Gritia Continent.
And those attacks were accurately striking the Demon God’s body.
“Thud, thwack!”
The Demon God, unable to properly exert his authority, could not even grasp the basic martial arts created by humans.
“Futile!” The Demon God shouts.
Although his pride must be hurt, that emotion has nothing to do with victory or defeat.
“Do you think mere fistfights like this can damage my true body!”
As I said, authority cannot be used.
Therefore, everything I do was merely martial arts moving my fists and feet.
It only means authority cannot be used; it does not mean the basic true body of a god or its abilities decrease.
A god’s body is harder than anything else.
Too weak to take damage from hand and foot strikes that are nothing more than a human’s struggles….
“Cough!” The Demon God groans at the fist that landed squarely in his abdomen, “Th-this…?!”
Eyes looking around frantically.
I could vividly feel that flustered emotion.
“Foolish. For a so-called god to ignore the power of will.”
Authority cannot be used, but will can be imbued and will is a spear that pierces everything and a shield that can block everything.
Especially the will of one who has entered the same domain as a god sometimes works miracles.
I, who entered the domain of gods through that will, can trigger even more powerful miracles.
For example, piercing through the Demon God’s sturdy body and damaging his soul.
“As long as you were also created as a part of a god, you cannot escape the trap of this barrier.”
And that applies to almost all gods.
The moment I unfold the Status of Victory and the Twilight of the Gods, the gods cannot oppose me.
“Destroying noble beings is my authority.”
The one who hunts gods.
The God of Deicide.
That was also my alias when I triggered the Twilight of the Gods in the past.
“Th-this can’t be….”
“There’s a long way to go. So, stop…”
-Vroom!
The fist imbuing my will.
“Crack!!”
It pierced through the Demon God’s head, the place where the most eyes were engraved.
“…Disappear.”
As if triggered by that will the remnants of the Demon God generated by the Tower scattered into dust.