Second World

Chapter 1974: Chapter 1974. Desire

Fear had sensed the power of the divine even before he turned back. He just didn't believe it. He knew the remaining divines were all here. When he saw Master is the one behind him, it was as if proving his skepticism. No way this outworlder was a divine being. Master probably possessed something that exuded divine power, like those divine treasures Master had pursued so passionately.

That's why he failed to react even when he sensed an energy spike from Master. Combined with the fact that his energy was still merged with Wrath and Greed in locking down Lucifer, The failed to react when Master shoved a hand toward him.

A blast erupted following that shove. That blast was so powerful it threw Fear forward. Due to the blast, Fear's energy link with Wrath and Greed was severed. A violent backlash of energy struck the three. The obstructive veil covering Lucifer was gone.

Feeling that nothing was hindering him anymore, Lucifer exploded with a formidable aura. His six colorful wings and three halos shone brightly. The force pressing down on Pride multiplied.

Pride didn't back down. He also pumped his energy. He sucked all the energies released by Serenity and Love like a siphon. In this state, he could draw their powers even without their consent. Serenity and Love felt their essences weakening as Pride forcefully extracted their energies. They were powerless to stop it even if they wanted to.

The light from Lucifer and Pride intensified until they were as if two suns. These two suns were in close range. It was inevitable they collided as they grew exponentially. Their collision resulted in a detonation that covered the entire region they were in. The monsters that thought they had fled far enough didn't know what happened when this explosion hit them. They vaporized on the spot.

The shockwave of the explosion traveled the entire world. Even on the opposite side of the planet from where the battle was happening, an earthquake occurred, and the winds from the explosion reached there. The winds, which had traveled the entire world, converged and formed a massive hurricane.

When the explosion subsided, the only living things in the region were the eight divine beings.

"I will not lose!" Pride exclaimed.

His body was still shining brightly. His two fists became meteors as they stormed at Lucifer. These meteors slammed into a multicolor wall formed of energy waves produced by Lucifer. The meteors and waves continued to counteract one another.

Pride never stopped shouting as he pressed on his assault. "I will take you down! You will witness my pride as the protector of the upperworld! I will let no devil roam this world! In the name of pride, I will...!"

His rave abruptly stopped, and so did his motion. The light that was shining from his body died down. Without the light covering him, everyone saw that his appearance had changed drastically. The armor that covered his entire body had lost all luminance. Its color became pale grey, and no spots were without cracks.

Pride's arm was in the middle of a punching motion when this happened. This punch continued due to momentum even after it lost all energy. The punch stopped when it hit Lucifer's open palm.

"Hehe," Lucifer chuckled after seeing his opponent's state.

Another energy wave erupted from his palm. This blast hit Pride without any resistance. Pride's body broke apart from the blast. The broken pieces of his body slowly dissolved and turned into dust, which blew away with the wind.

"Hahaha! HAHAHA!! Die, you pathetic fool!" Lucifer went into crazed laughter. "You are pride? What a joke! I am the true pride!! The greatest of all sins!!! You are nothing but a fake! A pretense! To have you masquerading as the good one is the biggest joke I ever heard...!"

Lucifer's laughter went on for a while. When he finally stopped, he looked around at his surroundings. Six divine beings; five upperworld Gods and one newcomer. He knew the newcomer. It was the outworlder who activated the main underworld portal. The same outworlder from the group who betrayed his underworld forces. Yet, this outworlder now helped him face the upperworld Gods.

Despite the intriguing situation, he had an urgent matter to take care of. He turned to the West.

"There is no need to worry," Master said to Lucifer. "The main underworld portal is safe. I have taken care of Volgroth."

Everyone there was surprised by his words.

"Do you know what you have done?! You have doomed this world!" Wrath scolded.

"Save your breath. He is the one who caused the underworld invasion in the first place," Greed said.

"Whose side are you on?" Lucifer asked Master. He couldn't understand this outworlder's intention.

"I'm on your side," Master answered.

"Heh," Lucifer chuckled. "I didn't quite catch your name the last time. You may tell me now."

"My name...?" Master paused upon the question. He considered giving his true name. But on further consideration, he was no longer that person. He was not even the player with the alias of Master. No, he had transcended. He was no longer his past. He was no longer human. He was no longer a player. He was now a different being entirely.

"My name is Desire," Master answered Lucifer's question.

"Desire... Hmph, an apt name for one who claws his way up from a pile of trash," Lucifer mocked.

Master showed no sign of being offended. He said, "We should take care of these Gods before we continue our talk."

"We? There is no we. If you wish to be on my side, you will have to do it from a kneeling position. There will be no negotiation," Lucifer said.

"Very well," Master said. There was no hesitation in his tone.

Lucifer wondered if Master meant his words, but he decided it didn't matter. With Hope gone, no God in existence was his equal. Certainly not a new God who had just attained Divinity. The other Gods were still there. They were uncertain about what to do. Pride was gone. They had exhausted most of their energies. Lucifer seemed to still have full power. With Master in the mix, there was no way they could win this. To make things worse, if what Master said about Volgroth was true, then all their hopes were lost.

Fear was the first to act. He was not in his prime, to begin with. He still had a lingering wound from what Hope did to him in the past. He had not fully recovered. He only joined this endeavor because of the severity of the situation, and the plan with Volgroth seemed like a feasible one. It was different now that everything went to shit.

He was currently very weak. After an exhausting battle for two days, getting ambushed by Master, and receiving a backlash from the merged energies, he was in no condition to resume this battle. A primal feeling rose within him. This was a feeling that was supposed to be under his rule. Yet, it was now ruling his heart. The terror he felt for the very real possibility of dying made him turn around and flee.

Greed and the others were disappointed by Fear's action but didn't find it surprising.

However, Fear didn't get far.

He slammed into a multicolor wall that suddenly appeared before him. Before he could regain balance, a multicolor beam crashed into him from behind. The beam revealed itself to be Lucifer, now grabbing the back of Fear's head. He was squeezing Fear's head into the

multicolor wall.

"Ple-Please... Spare me...," Fear said weakly.

"Hahaha! HAHAHA!!" Lucifer laughed instead of saying anything.

The pressure he exerted intensified. Colorful waves again radiated from him, banging into Fear, who was pinned by the multicolor wall. The pressure pained even a divine being like Fear. His pained cries echoed into the distance.

Greed and the others couldn't just stand and watch. Unlike Fear, they had no intention to flee despite the impossible situation. The four rushed forward, but one of them was interrupted. Something came from above and slammed into Wrath, who was at the forefront.

"You!" Wrath saw it was Master. "You wretched snake! I should have ended you when I had

the chance!"

"You should," Master returned.

The others continued onward. Fear was in a more dire need of help. Lucifer saw their

approach. With one hand still on Fear, he swung his other arm. The swing generated a multicolor wave. The three Gods used their powers to face the incoming wave. But when they collided with the wave, they were thrown back. They were severely weakened from

exhaustion.

Without interruption, Lucifer pressed on.

"AAAHHHH...!!!" Fear's pained cry turned into a wail.

Lucifer didn't let up. He never even stopped laughing. These two days of protracted battle had

been extremely frustrating. He was releasing all the tensions that had built up. He was taking out his frustration on poor Fear, who was helpless to resist.

Fear's wail finally stopped when light started pouring out of his eyes and mouth. His body

burst apart in one brutal explosion.

Lucifer finally stopped laughing. He turned back. Only four upperworld Gods were left. He had returned to his calm expression. However, the glint in his eyes still showed some lunacy.