Chapter 696: Odds of Victory

Until the moment before the action, Li Mochen's mind was blank, never expecting to hear such secrets from Guangchengzi's mouth. The gods under his command all exchanged bewildered glances, their eyes showing confusion, for they had not heard Guangchengzi's words.

However, when the gods completed their deployment according to the predetermined plan, Li Mochen's consciousness recovered. He focused his mind and summoned another self from the near future of the temporal river.

This 'Li Mochen' showed no surprise at all; his figure directly split into two. Unlike Li Mochen, the weapon held by this other incarnation was the already-refined 'Hammer of Judgment' rather than the 'Spear of Divine Will'.

This time, Zhuanxu did not sit idly by. He acted directly, simultaneously imposing five truth divine powers—'Ice', 'Slowness', 'Death', 'Weakness', and 'Suppression'—on the enormous star beast that glided through the boundless void like a great bird.

This made Hela among the gods brighten her eyes, carefully observing him. The power she wielded was similar to Zhuanxu's, but the latter was far stronger; all five divine powers were at the truth level, and among them, 'Ice' even faintly showed the might to reverse the laws of myriad realms.

“Temporal, stop!”

Both Li Mochens raised their hands simultaneously, and their dual 'Temporal' truth enveloped this airspace. Then, on the left and right sides of the great bird-shaped star beast, huge bloody holes burst open simultaneously.

Li Mochen's 'Gungnir Holy Spear' pierced through its body from left and right, and the star beast's magical energy hub at the chest and abdomen was the most vital point.

At the same time, the other Li Mochen's 'Hammer of Judgment' grew with the wind, expanding over ten thousand times, striking the star beast's head with boundless thunder. The immense impact smashed a huge crater into the bone armor of the star beast's head.

Hot on its heels was Zhuanxu's True Martial Demon-Slaying Sword, whose sharp and unmatched sword light, after blasting through the crater, transformed into countless water serpents that dispersed into the star beast's body.

Only at this moment did the star beast react.

“Screech!”

With this sharp cry, the star beast's body instantly turned into a sun in the starry domain, emitting boundless light and heat, as well as unparalleled positive power.

In addition, the temporal river was disturbed, and Li Mochen's time freeze could no longer be maintained. His face changed drastically, showing terror.

It was Creation level!

——Besides the truth of 'Light' and the truth of 'Sun', this star beast also wielded the divine power of time. And it was Creation-level time!

Star beasts lack intelligence; they cannot use their own authority to change the world, but they possess real power capable of altering the laws of myriad realms.

But just as cold sweat appeared on Li Mochen's face, Guangchengzi pointed into the void, suddenly causing a massive imperial seal to press down upon the star beast. With a tremendous surge of spiritual energy, the radiance on the star beast's body dimmed somewhat.

“The Seal of Reversing Heaven?”

Although it was only the true intent of a divine treasure manifested by an incarnation, Li Mochen felt his pressure greatly reduced. His dual truth-level temporal powers barely managed to maintain a stalemate with the star beast. Though he could no longer freeze time, he neutralized the star beast's temporal ability.

Moreover, the Creation-level suppression not only restrained the star beast's temporal divine power but also greatly suppressed its numerous powerful divine abilities and its god-above-god-level physical qualities.

Yet even after being suppressed by Guangchengzi and weakened by numerous divine powers from True Martial Emperor, the star beast's strength and speed were still exaggeratedly powerful.

With a single swing of its body, it sent both Li Mochens wielding Gungnir Holy Spears flying. This time, the powerful divine weapon only blasted a bloody hole on the star beast's outer surface.

But at this moment, the power of the gods surged in. They used the magic array forged by Anthony himself and the thirteen chains connected to the array.

While wrapping around the star beast's body, they not only imposed dozens of divine powers and negative states based on them onto the star beast but also furiously drained the star beast's power.

——From Ishtar's 'Darkness' spiritual closure, from Heracles' 'Strength' power weakening, from Loki's 'Illusion' and 'Deception' false perception, from Fenrir's 'Poison', from Delphinia's 'Freedom', from Hela's 'Ice', 'Weakness', and 'Slowness', and so on.

This not only prevented the star beast from tracking Li Mochen's whereabouts but also further weakened its divine abilities and strength.

At the center of the array were three Cyclopes who had defected alongside Athena: Brontes representing Thunder, Steropes representing Lightning, and Arges representing Light.

Their combined power was 'Drain', using the array and chains to extract everything from the star beast—strength, blood, vital energy, divine powers, and so on.

The combined efforts of the thirteen god-kings and deputy god-kings made the array disk act like a giant anchor, restraining the star beast's body and preventing it from escaping.

Thus, when 'Li Mochen' swung the Hammer of Judgment again, he once more smashed a huge crater into the star beast's body.

This lifted his spirits, and an uncontrollable glimmer of joy appeared in his eyes, knowing that victory in this battle was now possible. As long as their striking power exceeded the star beast's speed of recovery, the star beast would have no chance of escaping today.

But they had to speed up as much as possible. Within three hours at most, their enemies would discover they had left the Bright World. So before that, they had to finish this creature off; otherwise, all their efforts would be in vain.

At the same time, Li Mochen sensed dozens or even hundreds of divine thoughts projecting toward them. The commotion of their battle with the star beast had attracted the attention of many powerful beings in the surrounding worlds.

Li Mochen paid them no mind. Earlier, he had indeed worried about someone reaping the benefits without effort, but Guangchengzi's participation had already dispelled that concern.

As long as they could take down this star beast without paying too great a price, then as long as it wasn't someone of Guangchengzi's or Zhuanxu's caliber, he wouldn't care even if three to five beings with divine rank twenty showed up.

Moreover, a battle at the Creation level was enough to deter most nearby deities. How many among these people would have the courage to intervene and snatch food from a tiger's mouth?

※※※※

It was already two and a half hours later when the gods, dragging their weary bodies, returned with Li Mochen.

The return journey took no time at all; Li Mochen's truth-level temporal power allowed them to traverse hundreds of 'star distances' within a second. Fortunately, everything in the Bright World was as usual. Angela, stationed in the Land of Fate, used her truth-level 'Dream' to deceive their enemies.

“Your Majesty, I need some time to recover my divinity.”

Prometheus was the first to take his leave, not even waiting for Li Mochen to distribute the spoils.

To ensure that none of the gods were injured in this battle, he had kept his 'Prophecy' and 'Prediction' active throughout—predicting a god-above-god-level star beast, the difficulty of which could be imagined.

In less than two hours, Prometheus's mental energy had been drained. At this moment, he could still barely fight with the help of drugs, but now he needed a longer time to recover.

As for the spoils, there wasn't much to distribute; most things on the star beast were useless to gods.

Among all the gods, only Ishtar, Loki, and a few others were still energetic; the rest were mostly exhausted and needed rest. These two and a half hours of battle were more tiring than ten days and ten nights of fighting against an opponent of the same level.

“How was the harvest?”

Angela asked, her eyes filled with anticipation: “Seeing that none of you look dejected, it must have been a success, right?”

“That True Martial Emperor invited a powerful ally.”

Ishtar replied casually: “Still, it took over two hours. Actually, killing that star beast wasn’t hard. The key was that some people really tried to make a move on us. His Majesty fought them, killing three in a row before the situation was under control.”

She also looked at Li Chenmo: “Take out the things you brought back from that star beast and show everyone.”

After the star beast died, Li Chenmo used his temporal divine authority to skin and dismember it in no time at all. The gods guarded him on all sides, deterring those with ill intentions, and had no time to examine it closely.

So Ishtar was still curious, even though she knew that most things from a star beast were useless or harmful.

Li Chenmo, following the advice, raised his hand and summoned the star beast’s primal core into his grasp.

“This is the greatest gain—a twelve-million-year star beast primal core.”

As it appeared, it began to inhale and exhale the spiritual energy and magical power of the entire Divine Domain of Fate, causing violent fluctuations in the magical energy of the entire domain and startling the angels and petitioners within, who all gazed toward the magic tower at the center of the divine kingdom.

“And then?”

Ishtar asked puzzledly: “Are you going to integrate it into the Bright World? Or trade it? The Myriad Realms Trade Fair is still two years away, right?”

She didn’t see the point of taking such a great risk to kill this star beast. Although the primal core was of a high age, after expansion it would only become a medium-sized world. For the current Bright World, it wouldn’t bring much benefit.

As for trading, apart from the Myriad Realms Trade Fair, they probably couldn’t find a suitable buyer. Distant water can’t quench a near fire.

Li Chenmo’s explanation, however, left the gods bewildered: “In recent years, the magic tower arrays in all our cities have undergone large-scale modifications and expansions. And the designers of these arrays are all mages under my command.”

Ishtar thought, isn’t that only natural? The cities of the Destiny Alliance would naturally hire mages from the same camp to build their magic tower arrays.

But in the past few years, they had indeed invested a great deal of effort and capital in city defense. With state subsidies and the cities’ own investments, their defensive capabilities had improved several levels compared to before the War of the Gods.

“So these magic tower arrays now have magical conduits connecting to the divine kingdom.”

Anthony said with anticipation: “And eight years ago, I studied that star beast crystal core that Andre hadn’t traded away at the time. Then, following his orders, I recently designed an annihilation reactor with the ‘star beast primal core’ at its heart.”

This piqued the gods’ curiosity. They all thought that since Li Chenmo had taken such a great risk and mentioned it so solemnly, it must be something extraordinary.

“Everyone, follow me!”

Li Chenmo enveloped the gods and brought them to the forty-seventh floor of the Magic Tower of Destiny.

Except for Angela and a few others, no one had set foot here before. So when the scene on this floor came into view, almost everyone let out a soft exclamation.

The layout here was essentially no different from other floors of the magic tower: eight energy pools distributed in eight directions. Since there were no partitions or rooms, the view was wide open. The most striking feature was the giant annihilation reactor at the very center, simultaneously imbued with a sense of sci-fi and fantasy.

It was a design of one main reactor and eight auxiliary ones, with various pipes and furnace bodies combined, covering at least 750,000 square meters. However, since the Magic Tower of Destiny was built up to the forty-eighth floor, its internal space had been continuously expanding. From an initial area of less than 3,000 square meters per floor, it now exceeded 8.2 million square meters per floor, enough to accommodate a small city.

This ‘annihilation reactor,’ covering at least 750,000 square meters, took up less than ten percent of the forty-seventh floor.

“We call it the ‘Eternal Furnace.’ As everyone knows, the annihilation reactor has two difficulties: the high temperature generated during the annihilation reaction, and the production and extraction of antiparticles. Ultimately, both are limited by materials.”

Anthony explained: “The recent popularity of small and micro antimatter energy furnaces is due to mythical materials. Their technical level hasn’t essentially improved. An antimatter energy furnace the size of a basketball or washing machine doesn’t require much material, right? But the development of medium and large antimatter energy furnaces with installed capacities above 250 GW has hit a deadlock. We can’t use mythical alloys on a large scale; the price is absolutely unaffordable. But now, this star beast primal core can perfectly solve the problem.”

As he spoke, he manipulated the device to place the star beast primal core into a certain apparatus inside the ‘Eternal Furnace.’ Then, after obtaining Li Chenmo’s approval, he started the reactor.

“The star beast primal core can absorb all energy, with an incredible capacity, solving all heat dissipation problems. So even if the amount of antimatter involved in the annihilation reaction exceeds the design specifications several times, it’s no problem. And the special array structure of the ‘Eternal Furnace’ can not only convert the heat and radiation energy from annihilation into electrical energy but also extract and utilize the magical energy tides emitted by the star beast primal core.”

“Antimatter extraction is also no issue. The ‘Eternal Furnace’ can sustain itself; it can extract 6,000 tons of antimatter per year. So no maintenance is needed. Moreover, the pure magical energy emitted after the star beast primal core absorbs energy can naturally strengthen all materials used inside the furnace until they reach the mythical level. It will become more and more powerful. And the future maximum power can be increased by more than ten times.”

Anthony watched as the devices inside the ‘Eternal Furnace’ operated smoothly under the control of the intelligent system. The temperatures inside the main furnace and the eight auxiliary furnaces gradually increased, starting the annihilation reaction steadily and without incident. His eyes shone, and a smile full of pride and a sense of achievement spilled from the corners of his lips.

“Pay attention, everyone. The installed capacity of this ‘Eternal Furnace’ is 300 billion GW.”

Athena initially thought she had misheard, since the total installed capacity of all power plants in America was only about 130,000 GW.

But when she thought of the star beast primal core inside the ‘Eternal Furnace,’ Athena could accept it.

Still, 300 billion GW, equivalent to 2.3 million times America’s current power generation, made Athena feel dizzy.

At the same time, however, joy welled up in her heart. The pressure from the Blood Feast Maggots eased significantly in an instant. She hadn’t expected her sovereign to have prepared such a measure.

“Impressive, isn’t it? This ‘Eternal Furnace’ is only this big.”

Anthony laughed proudly: “Actually, it’s a bit of a shortcut. If it weren’t installed in His Majesty’s magic tower, its volume would have to expand at least a thousand times, and it would be very unsafe. This magic tower itself can serve as a natural reactor.”

“So—”

Ishtar finally understood: “The magic tower defense arrays in our cities will be extremely powerful? If war breaks out, at least the safety of the cities can be guaranteed, right?”

“Correct. Although long-distance transmission of electrical energy incurs huge losses, the power generation of this ‘Eternal Furnace’ can supply the entire world without issue, since it’s 2.3 million times America’s power generation. It is estimated that as long as each city has four or more four-story magic towers, they can generate a defense system capable of countering a main god level. We have ample energy supply. Even if the Blood Feast Maggots enter this world, we can ensure the safety of mortal society and civilized order. EMM~ This is also good news for you, Lord Eio. All controllers of thunder and light can borrow power from His Majesty.”

“And within the divine kingdom?”

Athena asked with deep meaning: “I noticed that Your Majesty has some unusual arrangements inside the divine kingdom.”

“Lord Garcia Ferron predicted that if a large number of Blood Feast Maggots arrive, the main battlefield will soon shift to the Divine Kingdom of Fate. There are ample supplies here, and the suppression of the domain is relatively weaker than in the prime material plane.”

Anthony looked at her: “If they dare to come, this will be their hell.”

※※※※

Ten minutes later, the gods departed contentedly. The existence of the ‘Eternal Furnace’ greatly boosted their confidence. Before this, although these ancient gods and law gods had no fear of the ‘Blood Feast Maggots,’ they had no confidence in protecting the flock tended by the Lord of Fate, nor in preventing damage to the world’s roots.

But the existence of the 'Eternal Furnace' could greatly ease their defensive pressure.

Their king always acted this way, first placing himself in an invincible position, and this time facing the crisis of the 'Blood Feast Demon Worm' was no exception.

At this moment, on the forty-seventh floor of the Destiny's Domain magic tower, Anthony, Ishtar, Loki, and Athena were kept behind by Li Mochen, who also invited Apollo, the guardian of the northern lands, to join them.

The latter four were slightly puzzled, but when a familiar figure appeared within the magic tower, their eyes turned solemn. For the visitor was the Radiant Mother Isis.

Of course, it could not be Isis's true body, nor even an incarnation; it was merely a wisp of the Radiant Mother's divine thought.

Given the current situation, if this Mother truly dared to come in her true form, then the gods within and without the Heavenly Fate Divine Kingdom would spare no cost to kill her.

Their divine king had etched the fine quality of 'trustworthiness' into his very marrow and divinity, but they, his subordinate gods, were not bound by such moral or divine restrictions.

Your Majesty!

Isis bowed to Li Mochen: 'Your subordinate gods look as if they want to devour me alive; it frightens me.'

'It's just a wisp of divine thought; even if devoured, it wouldn't matter much, would it?'

Li Mochen joked: 'Rest assured, I will keep my promise and protect your safety within my divine kingdom.'

Isis smiled slightly: 'I am deeply grateful. Then may I ask, Your Majesty, what exactly do you wish to discuss by summoning me here? If it concerns the great battle between you and the two Chaos Lords a few days hence, please forgive us for being unable to participate. Though safeguarding the peace of this world is a duty my son and I cannot shirk, I believe Your Majesty must also be able to sense it?'

'I have sensed it. Your beloved son is not only contending with Ahura but also seems to be engaged in a fierce struggle with the King of the Hidden Moon Canglang.'

Li Mochen nodded slightly: 'Speaking of which, I now somewhat regret that you have occupied at least half the power of the Divine Firmament Spiritual Fortune Purple Gold Pagoda.'

If not for his recent surge in power and the acquisition of a great amount of merit, which had further repaired and strengthened the pagoda, he would not have been able to maintain the wish-granting spells for his subordinates.

'But you gained far more in this transaction.'

Isis's gaze flickered. Before the previous transaction was concluded, she had never imagined that Li Mochen would obtain root authority at such a rapid pace.

This was also the reason the Radiant Lord had fallen into difficulty. When they were completely expelled from the root and at a disadvantage in the struggle for the Supreme God, the Great Prince of the Tera Empire had set aside all scruples and begun to fully reclaim this important avatar of his.

And although the Radiant Lord's power was now no less than that of his true body, an avatar was ultimately an avatar. When Horus had cast him into the Bright World, he had already implemented relatively thorough preventive measures within the Radiant Lord's soul core.

Li Mochen laughed: 'I won't deny that. But this time I invited you here to mediate between the Radiant Lord and the Lord of the Shadow Moon Canglang, to ask Them to temporarily make peace.'

'Make peace between Them?'

Isis looked incredulous, utterly unable to comprehend: 'You mean to convey this idea to Them through me? I believe Your Majesty's notion is pure fantasy. I think it would be more appropriate for you to speak with Them directly.'

'They are not in a state to speak with me properly now, so I must ask you to convey this. I will offer Them a chance to become a God Above Gods, but in their current state—the Radiant Lord alone, or the Shadow Moon Canglang alone—neither can succeed.'

Li Mochen's words clearly made Isis's pupils dilate. Her expression grew even more puzzled: 'Then does Your Majesty mean to use the surplus root power of the Bright World to have us exert ourselves for you?'

'No. I have already promised the next Supreme God of the Bright World to someone else. Prince Lucifer provided me with much assistance when I was in obscurity and helped me defeat many pantheons. This reward is what he rightfully deserves.'

Ishtar's eyes lit up, gazing at Li Mochen with gratitude and admiration. This was the first time he had made a formal promise to her. The other divine kings present, while envious, also showed a glimmer in their eyes.

This sovereign indeed kept his promises and was generous, very generous.

Li Mochen continued with a smile: 'Therefore, this opportunity can only be seized by Those Two Majesties themselves.'

'Are you sure you are not mocking me?' Isis frowned: 'Could there be a third Supreme God born in this world?'

Li Mochen replied solemnly: 'The Bright World is impossible for now; your hope lies in the Dark World. I swear by my honor. You may tell Them that if They are interested, They may come and see for themselves, in a state like yours. Seeing is believing. I believe no amount of flowery words can compare to letting you witness it with your own eyes.'

Isis narrowed her eyes, then fell into a state of stillness, like a wooden figure.

The gods all knew that she was likely communicating with the two-in-one divine king. Moments later, a light orb and a dark orb appeared before them.

One of them was very familiar to them—the Radiant Lord of this world; the other wielded completely opposite power, yet its aura bore some resemblance to that of the Radiant Lord.

The divine power emanating from this one was extraordinarily terrifying, even surpassing that of the Radiant Lord, but it was clearly repelled by the world's laws, so its oppressive presence felt weaker than the latter's.

'I thank both Majesties for your trust!'

Li Mochen nodded slightly, and then the space they were in suddenly shifted. They descended from the forty-seventh floor of the magic tower to the forty-sixth.

'Behold, this is the complete corpse of a creation-level star beast. It possesses truth-level light and truth-level yang, representing all the positive aspects of the world.'

It was these two divine authorities that had caused the Heavenly Fate gods, led by him, to suffer greatly.

'Can you guess what I intend to do? The three of you?'

The two orbs showed no reaction. Isis frowned: 'Your Majesty, please explain directly. I cannot imagine what use this star beast corpse could serve. It is utterly useless and highly toxic. Hmm—'

Seeming to have a realization, Isis let out a soft exclamation and fell into thought.

'I intend to use it to create a sun. As you can see, its body contains a large amount of hydrogen and helium. The star beast's divine authority allows it to extract these from the starry domain. And the nuclear fusion technology mastered by Anthony can turn its corpse into the largest fuel block in history, expected to last for three thousand years.'

A hint of a smile appeared at the corner of Li Mochen's eye: 'After the Blood Feast Demon Worms arrive, I will split its corpse into two parts and, once fusion stabilizes, cast them into the Dark World to become that world's sun and moon.'

In the Bright World, there is actually no physical sun. The sun people see is merely an aggregate of yang star power, which is why the Radiant Lord and the sun gods of this world can influence it.

As for the Dark World, due to the two excessively powerful beings in the Dark Abyssal Sea, no light laws could be generated.

The method Li Mochen conceived was to use a man-made physical 'sun' to intervene, gradually shaping light, sun, and moon in the Dark World. This required not only the star beast's corpse but also the catalysis of a being of the Radiant Lord's level.

'It seems you are all quite interested.'

Li Mochen noticed the fluctuations of divine thought from the two orbs and raised the corner of his mouth without surprise: 'Now let us talk. As the price for leaving no hidden measures, what must you offer?'

'Then what do you wish to obtain?'

Isis's gaze was extremely sharp. Li Mochen's proposal made her heart stir with desire.

If light laws could be generated in the Dark World, then the two Horuses becoming Supreme Gods would indeed be a sure thing, expected within a hundred years.

'I suggest you do not make excessive demands. If we follow your plan, we must become enemies of Thor and the two great existences behind him.'

'The problem is that you cannot refuse.'

Li Mochen said nonchalantly: 'My demands are not harsh. My Angel King Apollo will be the Lord of Dawn of both worlds; Ishtar will be the Night Goddess of both worlds; Artemis will be the Moon Goddess of the Bright World. This will be bound by the strictest contract, ensuring you do not infringe upon their divine offices. I must make it clear that I will not tolerate any bargaining. If you refuse, then please leave.'

Li Mochen was not worried that the three would refuse, because he had the ability to create obstacles inside the star beast corpse, delaying Horus's ascension to Supreme God by two to three hundred years. By then, who knew what changes this world would undergo?

Li Mochen actually wanted to gain merit from this matter, the sooner the better, but this was something the other party did not know.

Isis and the two orbs fell silent again. They communicated for about half an hour before the Radiant Mother sighed: 'Mr. Andrei, you are truly a demon. We can agree to your demands, but correspondingly, you and your pantheon must guarantee with the strictest contract that you will not obstruct any of Horus's actions related to deriving light laws in the Dark World.'

'Of course!'

Li Mochen agreed readily: 'Shall we sign the contract now? I don't have a suitable contract carrier on hand, but I believe you must have one.'

Horus certainly did. Whether as the Radiant Lord or the prince of the Tera Empire, his resources far exceeded Li Mochen's.

When the contract was signed, both parties were straightforward, without any dawdling.

Isis had once been the Egyptian goddess of wisdom, and Athena's wisdom had reached the level of truth; the Radiant Lord possessed ultimate 'truth,' and Loki was the king of deceit. So both sides knew they could not play any tricks on this contract, and their willingness to cooperate was very strong.

Just three minutes later, Isis and the two Horuses departed simultaneously.

Li Mochen also withdrew a scroll full of divine light into his sleeve.

'Congratulations, Your Majesty!'

Athena bowed to Li Mochen with admiration: 'You have secured a great advantage for our pantheon. I suspect this is something our enemies could not have anticipated.'

This was a true open scheme. Neither Isis nor the two Horuses would miss this opportunity, and both the Radiant Church and the Hidden Moon Canglang Legion would go all out for it.

'A certain Eastern sage said that when dealing with enemies, one must unite all forces that can be united.'

Li Mochen then looked at Apollo with apologetic eyes: 'I am sorry, Lord Apollo, that this has sacrificed your interests.'

'No!'

Apollo not only had no complaints but bowed to Li Mochen with great gratitude: 'You have secured for my sister and me something beyond my imagination, something I could never have obtained in the Olympian pantheon. As for the authority of radiance, it is currently beyond my reach. I deeply recognize this—'

He already knew that Li Mochen had summoned him here precisely to let him witness the entire negotiation.

Apollo had no dissatisfaction. The Lord of Destiny had taken his feelings into account. Moreover, Li Mochen had indeed secured good conditions for them, especially for his sister Artemis. Since the Radiant Lord had completed his hegemony in the Middle Ages, the divine office of 'moon' had been forcibly taken as part of radiance.

And the 'dawn' of both worlds was enough for Apollo to launch an assault on higher levels in the future.

'That you can understand is a blessing for the Heavenly Fate Pantheon.'

Li Mochen then looked at the star beast corpse before him: 'Then let us begin. We must complete this within a day. Although Anthony has long been prepared, it still requires considerable time.'

This was why he had kept Anthony, Loki, and Athena present—not merely to prevent Horus from cheating.

Anthony's abilities went without saying. His forging skills, combined with modern technology, had risen step by step, and under Li Mochen's wish-granting spells, they had entered the 'pseudo-truth' rank.

Athena was also skilled in forging, and the three Cyclopes she brought were masters of forging. As for Loki, the Gungnir holy spear and Thor's Mjolnir in his hands were not only forged by Loki and Lodur together, but he had also summoned many frost giants wielding flame power to participate. It was only because Lodur was Odin's elder brother that Loki did not hold the forging divine office.

But this one's truth flame and ultimate forging were still on par with Lodur's abilities.