Michael certainly had faith in Su Mo's strength, a faith so profound it bordered on blind.
In his heart, it wasn't just a mere Another Cosmology; even if all the pantheons and all the Another Cosmologies in Little Garden were combined, they would be no match for his Creator.
However, having such faith didn't mean he would actually use the Another Cosmology in his hands against Su Mo.
"Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." This was one of the most fundamental tenets of his faith.
Though Su Mo himself had mocked the blind obedience advocated by the story of Abraham and Isaac, and although Little Garden's Michael didn't strictly follow this doctrine, for the Michael from the Campione! world, personally shaped by Su Mo from myth, it was a rule he had to abide by.
Whether the Su Mo before him was devastatingly invincible, showing signs of weakness, or even being beaten to a pulp... to a true believer of the Church, all of this was mere appearance, a test from God.
Only by firmly believing that Su Mo would achieve ultimate victory no matter what, only by believing that everything God did was deliberate, could one's faith be considered genuine.
Just like in the story of the Son of God, the highest demand placed upon a believer was that even God's death could not shake their spirit.
So now, faced with Su Mo's request, Michael felt incredibly conflicted.
It was like the omnipotence paradox: if the Lord you believe in tells you to commit blasphemy, do you do it?
"Perhaps we should just call it off. After all, those in the Full-Authority Domain cannot intervene, and all the heretics have been utterly defeated. Isn't this the perfect time to expand our victory and consolidate the situation?" he attempted to advise his Lord.
The Son of God was bound by Little Garden's rules, and all his subordinates were down. They had already won a great victory. There was no need to continue the act, was there?
Hearing this, Su Mo silently shook his head in his mind.
"Who told you that those in the Full-Athority Domain absolutely cannot intervene?"
"?!"
Michael was slightly shocked.
He had only inherited the memories of Little Garden's Michael, who was an inexperienced second-generation himself, so his knowledge of many secrets was lacking.
It was common knowledge in Little Garden that those in the Full-Authority Domain could not take the stage. But to hear his Lord say otherwise...
If that traitorous Son of God was still watching from the shadows, ready to strike at any moment...
Realizing this, a cold sweat broke out on Michael's back.
"Yes! I understand!"
His divine will now perfectly clear, Michael no longer hesitated and extended his right hand.
"Lord! Protect me! Jesus Christ, protect me! My great enemy is at hand!"
Michael's prayer was heard in the heavens, and the blessings granted to him by the Church's mythological history were far greater than before.
As his spiritual essence swelled dramatically, a golden, shining ball of light appeared in his right hand.
As if an entire world-level concept was unfolding, a concept that transcended Cosmic Truth descended. Michael aimed the core of this pantheon's cosmology at Su Mo, his eyes cold.
Under the excited, proud, and expectant gazes of all the archangels and the angelic legion, he raised his right arm and proclaimed the divine will.
"Heretic, devoid of faith, reverence, and filled with naught but violence! With the light of the Lord, your sins shall be judged!"
"The Day of Judgment is at hand! Unfold! Another Cosmology, Eden!"
A golden radiance illuminated heaven and earth. Like the advent of a brilliant nova, a terrifying power swept through the three realms.
With Michael at its center, the environment of Eden began to unfold.
However, the Eden visible to the naked eye was only half a promised land flowing with milk and honey. The other half was a bottomless pit of hell and magma.
"So this is the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth?"
Seeing this, Su Mo quickly understood the structure of the Church's Another Cosmology.
The concept of original sin was central to the Church, and the Last Judgment was its most critical element. The Another Cosmology before him was a power designed to judge heretics.
Forget a three-digit being; even someone in the Full-Authority Domain, unless they were a pure-blooded dragon or a Star Spirit with their own innate cosmology, would be unable to withstand this blow.
Even for Su Mo, the sheer conceptual weight of this was difficult to simply dispel.
This was an item capable of ruling over a multiverse!
Using it as a weapon was like hitting someone with the Oxford English Dictionary.
"Still, let's give it a try!"
The Sword of Victory shone brightly, interposing itself between Su Mo and the Another Cosmology, Eden.
Pitting a Cosmic Truth against a Another Cosmology resulted in near-instantaneous defeat.
The difference in conceptual level was too great.
It was only when Su Mo brought out the Avesta Apocrypha he had accumulated and empowered the Sword of Victory with his own understanding of the dualistic cosmology of good and evil that the situation slightly stabilized.
Although the Another Cosmology still held the absolute advantage, the Sword of Victory, now evolving toward the form of a Another Cosmology itself, was no longer instantly crushed.
It could probably hold on for a few seconds at most.
It was clear that Su Mo was trying to use this pressure to complete the evolution of his Cosmic Truth into a full-fledged Another Cosmology.
But for now, although his insight had already grasped the key, time was running short.
In less than a second, the Sword of Victory would be completely destroyed.
The visible disparity meant he had no chance of turning the tables.
"Hahahaha! Hahahaha! Heretic, your time has come!" Gabriel let out a gleeful laugh as she watched the light of the Another Cosmology unfold.
This arrogant heretic was finally getting his just deserts.
"A fool trying to stop a chariot with his bare arms! To think you could pit a Cosmic Truth against a Another Cosmology! In the end, you were defeated by your own arrogance!"
"Heretic! This is the price for making an enemy of the Son of God!"
Facing the equally gleeful expressions of the many angels, Su Mo gave them a strange look.
"Why have you all been going on about the 'Son of God' this whole time? Isn't this the power of your God?"
With words so simple yet so sharp, Su Mo successfully silenced the angels, leaving them momentarily speechless, unsure how to respond.
And the next words from his mouth drove them to the brink of madness.
With that, Su Mo finally opened his left hand.
In his palm, another ball of light shone.
This one radiated with a starlike brilliance, but unlike the expanding light of Eden, it converged inward.
The moment they saw this starlight, all the angels present felt a primal fear.
It was the discomfort of encountering a natural enemy.
Though they didn't know the full name of this power, its overwhelming mass and conceptual weight allowed them to instinctively grasp its nature.
"Impossible! A Another Cosmology? How do you have such a power?!"
Gabriel was truly going mad.
The Zoroastrian Another Cosmology had been sealed away with a Demon Lord for hundreds of thousands of years, hadn't it?
Could it be that he had unearthed it, which was why he had the audacity to provoke the Church?
"No! That's not right! This cosmology... it's definitely not the Zoroastrian one. It's more like a Taoist cosmology!"
Metatron, however, quickly identified the problem.
That balanced and harmonious concept was by no means the extremist nature of dualism.
The Taoist pantheon had more than one Another Cosmology, and it was impossible for their opponent to have defeated the Heavenly Court and stolen their ultimate treasure. Therefore, this Another Cosmology had to be a Gift that had been lost.
But there was only one Another Cosmology that could give Su Mo absolute confidence against Michael, who also wielded one, and that was also the easiest to obtain.
Metatron's pupils contracted violently as he realized the truth. He immediately looked up, desperately trying to warn Michael.
"Michael, watch out! That power is—"
But it was too late!
"Another Cosmology: Virtual Star Tai Sui!"
Su Mo gently pushed his hand forward, fully activating the ball of light that resembled a celestial sphere, engraved with the celestial equator and reflecting Michael's image.
At that moment, Michael was "wholeheartedly" focused on crushing Su Mo's Sword of Victory.
When he realized what Another Cosmology Su Mo was using, his body shook. He immediately tried to turn Eden to defend himself and clash with his opponent.
A clash between Another Cosmologies was a clash of universes.
It might be difficult to fight one against two, but he wouldn't be instantly defeated.
But no matter what he did, it was too late.
Even if Michael could instantly burst forth at the Sixth Cosmic Velocity, Virtual Star Tai Sui had already been activated before he could even move Eden.
At this moment, Virtual Star Tai Sui didn't need to capture Michael himself; it only needed to target the reflection of Michael already on the celestial sphere.
The instant before the Sword of Victory shattered, starlight illuminated the sky.
Michael's figure vanished completely, reappearing within the celestial sphere of the Another Cosmology, Virtual Star Tai Sui.
"It's over!" Metatron looked utterly dejected. He knew the situation was now irreversible.
As the supreme masterpiece of a pantheon, Virtual Star Tai Sui's special ability was to seal spiritual essences. But unlike other Another Cosmologies, it was extremely ineffective against races other than the Strongest Species.
No matter how strong or weak the opponent, the most it could do was halve their spiritual essence.
This was true even against the most common seven-digit or five-digit beings.
Moreover, this Another Cosmology was completely useless against pure-blooded dragons.
Compared to other Another Cosmologies, Virtual Star Tai Sui's versatility was abysmally poor.
In return for these many weaknesses, it gained an extremely powerful advantage against specific enemies.
As long as its opponents were from the races of innate gods and buddhas or Star Spirits, Virtual Star Tai Sui could overcome any difference in power to achieve victory, completely sealing their spiritual essence within a virtual world.
Even a being in the Full-Authority Domain, if they met the requirements, would be unconditionally sealed.
This Another Cosmology was supposed to be preserved by a community descended from the Star Sea Dragon King of Little Garden's Eastern District. Though he didn't know how it had fallen into his opponent's hands, it no longer mattered.
What mattered was that Michael, his spiritual essence completely sealed, could no longer activate Eden, nor could he use a clash of cosmologies to escape the seal.
In other words, the Vice-Commander of Heaven, along with the Church's Another Cosmology, had all become the enemy's spoils of war.
"Son of God! Forgive my sins!"
Gabriel, who had been so arrogant just moments before, was now pale, her body trembling slightly.
Su Mo's earlier thanks felt like a needle, stabbing viciously at her heart.
If she hadn't been so rash, if she hadn't tried to make her opponent despair prematurely, if she hadn't revealed that Michael would use the Another Cosmology...
Would her opponent not have prepared in advance? Would he have been unable to defeat Michael?
If so, didn't that mean that she was the one who had ruined the Son of God's grand plan, who had caused this situation?
Now, even Gabriel had to admit that, aside from the Son of God, the Church had been defeated.
If this wasn't a complete rout, what in the world could be worse?