Chapter 401 - 294: Even a God Dies When Killed

Chapter 401: Chapter 294: Even a God Dies When Killed

Although Superpowers are a form of Extraordinary Power, they are a deeply flawed one. Some can even match the strength of a Tier Four Mage, possessing an incredibly high ceiling!

But...

The power of a Superpower can’t be enhanced. Whatever it is at the moment of awakening is what it will always be; it can never be improved. At most, one can only increase their proficiency with it.

Moreover, while the abilities granted by Superpowers are wildly diverse, they all share one common trait: they are one-dimensional!

No matter the Superpower, its application is always extremely narrow, and it cannot coexist with any other form of Extraordinary Power!

Oh, that’s not quite right. It seems they can coexist with Divine Power.

Faced with such a lackluster power, Isaac had previously given it only a cursory glance before dismissing it. Now, however, it seemed that Superpowers had some merit after all. ’Perhaps they could be a shortcut to the Mysterious!’

’It’s just too random...’

And so, Isaac wandered aimlessly along the periphery of the Mysterious Sea. Inside it, he couldn’t perceive the flow of time. Even if he could, it likely wouldn’t be accurate, as the laws of the Mysterious Sea weren’t necessarily the same as the world outside.

An unknown amount of time passed. Isaac was still wandering the Mysterious Sea, having yet to find the connection between it and Superpowers. His search, however, was not entirely fruitless.

Just as Isaac’s form had faded to near-transparency, forcing him to leave, his ethereal figure arrived at a "puddle" on a "beach." There, in the "puddle," lay a Magic Staff formed from twisted, gnarled tumors of flesh. A dim, divine radiance was locked firmly within the growths, unable to escape.

This was the Divinity of the Staff of Deformation. It was by this method that the staff maintained near-perfect control over its Divine Power.

The sight disappointed Isaac. If this was all there was to it, it wouldn’t solve his problem at all.

First, Isaac currently had no way to step into the Mysterious Sea himself, so he couldn’t help others use this method to suppress their Divinity. Second, without this core component of its Divinity, a "perfect" Divinity would become flawed. Its power would be considerably weaker than that of a normal Divinity. Moreover, the "desires" suppressed by the ritual of Becoming a God would be amplified.

Finally, this was still a method of suppression, not absorption.

And since it was merely suppression, it was bound to lose control one day, which would be even more troublesome.

When that happens, it won’t be a case of Divinity replacing Human Nature, like with the Master of Blood. Instead, it would be an existence that has fused Divinity with Human Nature—something much closer to a normal Deity!

In other words, like the Deities created through Wizard experiments in the past!

Without a doubt, this was of no use to Isaac...

Well, it wasn’t entirely useless. After all, he still had the Virtual Divinities with their limited lifespans. They wouldn’t have to worry about this issue, as they wouldn’t live long enough for it to become one.

But in terms of cost-effectiveness, the method was mediocre at best.

’After all, by the time I can enter the Mysterious Sea, I’m sure I’ll have better methods available. Why would I need such a roundabout trick?’

Shaking his head, the last wisp of light faded from Isaac’s transparent form, and he left the Mysterious Sea.

...

Back in the Real World, Isaac slowly opened his eyes and habitually turned his head. A faint light flickered within them as streams of information flowed into his mind.

’Have three days passed?’ Isaac’s brow furrowed slightly as he looked down at the Magic City below.

The moment Isaac awoke, faint ripples in the Void appeared a short distance away. Jörmungandr emerged slowly, holding the Staff of Deformation. As soon as he appeared, his gaze fixed on Isaac, his eyes narrowing. The aura of the Mysterious around Isaac had grown stronger!

And by a significant amount!

’Though it’s still nothing compared to mine, that’s a considerable increase.’ This was by no means the kind of growth one could achieve from a single trip into the Mysterious Sea. At the very least, Jörmungandr’s own gains from his first journey into the Mysterious Sea had been nowhere near as substantial as Isaac’s!

’So this is the kind of foundation a Mad Witch has.’

Thinking of Isaac’s unique status, Jörmungandr felt a sense of understanding, and the flicker of envy in his heart vanished.

’Impressive?’

’But it was earned by gambling with his life.’

"Congratulations. It seems you had quite a harvest," Jörmungandr said with a smile.

In response to Jörmungandr’s congratulations, however, Isaac just sighed and waved his hand dismissively. "What’s there to congratulate? There was no harvest. I spent all that time and not only failed to leave a single mark, but I couldn’t even figure out the link between Superpowers and the Mysterious Sea. I’m a long way from your level."

’This guy is so damn greedy...’ Jörmungandr’s lip twitched. ’Truly befitting of a Mad Witch.’

"My apologies for the sudden visit and for disturbing you. This is just a small token of my appreciation. By the way, using the Mysterious Sea to suppress Divinity isn’t a foolproof method. Although that fellow doesn’t have long to live, there’s still a chance things could go sideways. You should be careful." As he spoke, Isaac offered a cloth bag to Jörmungandr.

Jörmungandr didn’t take the bag. Instead, he frowned at it, troubled by both the gift and Isaac’s words.

Having been a Mad Witch for so long, Isaac was now remarkably self-aware. Seeing that Jörmungandr didn’t accept the bag, he knew what was worrying him and spoke up.

"Relax, it has nothing to do with the Outer Gods. It’s just a little something from my own research from years back. It should be useful to you."

"Oh? Is that right? In that case, thank you."

Sure enough, hearing Isaac’s reassurance, Jörmungandr relaxed and took the bag.

An imperceptible flash of Mysterious light passed through his hand. Once he confirmed it wasn’t a product of the Outer Gods, his smile became much warmer, for he could sense the aura of Divine Power inside.

A fragment of an Artificial Divine Format!

And it was a Divine Fragment of exceptionally high purity!

Just how high was its purity?

By infusing it with just a little Power of Faith and Authority, it had a high chance of becoming a true Divinity!

Incredible!

The joy on Jörmungandr’s face didn’t last long. He glanced at the Staff of Deformation behind him, recalling its state over the past three days. He then looked down at the Divine Fragment in his hand, deep in thought.

"Not... long... to live... what... does... that mean?"

Jörmungandr, who had been pondering the future possibility of the Staff of Deformation losing control, looked up at Isaac upon hearing the trembling voice beside him.

’This guy... his words are short, but they carry a lot of weight.’

"What do you mean, ’not long to live’? A True God shouldn’t be so easy to kill, right?!" Jörmungandr put away the bag and asked, his brow furrowed.

True Gods are not eternal and undying. They can be killed, and they even have finite lifespans. This sounds incredible, especially the latter point, since Deities do possess the Concept of the Eternal. In theory, their lifespans should be infinite.

Of course, that is only in theory.

The fact that a True God can be killed has been proven. Whether a True God is immortal, however, remained purely theoretical.

So one day, to test this theory, several Demigod Mages joined forces to cast a Superposition Time Magic: God’s Wound!

They accelerated time for a True God. After three full years, they successfully exhausted his entire lifespan, causing him to die of old age.

Thus, the theory that True Gods have limited lifespans was proven.

But even if their lives are finite, they are still incredibly long. Countless Deities have died in battle, but only one has ever died of old age—and in a sense, he too was killed by Wizards.

"Correct. A True God doesn’t die that easily. But as you said, that applies to a *True God*. Them?" Isaac gestured vaguely. "They aren’t True Gods. They merely possess some of a True God’s characteristics and theoretical properties. The most telling sign is their limited lifespan. Yours has a bit more time left—about half a year. Mine only has two or three months," Isaac said with a shrug.

"But don’t worry, he probably won’t die. He was lucky; he didn’t fully merge with the Staff of Deformation. All of this Divine Power, however, will be completely gone."