"Is that it?"
Su Mo paid no attention to Gabriel's expression, nor did he care about the thoughts of the other angels.
He stood on the battlefield of the Church's defeat, strolling among the millions of fallen angels. Glancing around the sacred cathedral, where no one but himself remained standing, Su Mo lightly tapped his sword, speaking to no one in particular—or perhaps to a certain someone who was not present.
"Is this all you have?"
His voice was neither deliberately lowered nor raised.
But anyone watching the battlefield could hear his words.
"Arrogant! That's just too arrogant!" someone exclaimed.
"He single-handedly took down an entire pantheon, and a top-tier one like the Church at that. If he's not arrogant after pulling that off, what's the point?" someone else retorted, a mix of envy and awe in their voice.
"I thought Michael was brave enough, but I never imagined he'd lose even with a Another Cosmology. Who in the world is this Lord Su Mo? I thought Zoroastrianism died out long ago."
"I don't know, but I know one thing."
"What?"
"This powerhouse is definitely not human!"
"No kidding. How could a human reach that level? Four-digits is their limit, and even then, it's just that one prodigy from Arcadia!"
---||---
A battle of this scale, involving the full might of the Church, was not something that could go unnoticed.
In fact, the moment the five Legions of Light descended and the archangels mobilized, all of Little Garden had been shaken.
Unlike the internal conflict within the Buddhist pantheon, this was the first time the lofty Church had gathered its entire strength for an external war against a single enemy.
Ever since Michael had mobilized two Legions of Light in a failed attempt to vanquish a young hero, breaking the rules in the process, the Church had been under the watchful eye of every pantheon in Little Garden.
As a top-tier pantheon, they simply commanded that kind of influence.
The descent of over two million innate gods and buddhas was impossible to hide. On top of that, the three-digit beings had completely disregarded the rules of heaven, bypassing Trāyastriṃśa and the rule of descending as humans, instead coming down with their full spiritual essences.
The alarms from Little Garden's central hub had nearly deafened the entire Divine Army.
As the financial backers of the Divine Army, the various pantheons had all received the news.
And so, using their own methods, they had been observing the entire conflict.
The observers had a variety of reactions to Su Mo.
Some were furious that he dared to challenge the authority of a pantheon and believed he should be dealt with severely.
Some were just there for the show, enjoying the chaos.
Some had grudges against the Church and were delighted to see them take a hit.
And some simply wanted to gauge the Church's true strength, to see just how powerful Little Garden's strongest pantheon really was.
Before this, when they had heard that Michael and a million angels had been defeated by an unknown young hero, they had thought the Church was all hype, that it was starting to decline.
It was only today, seeing Su Mo single-handedly annihilate an entire pantheon, that they finally understood.
It wasn't that the Church was weak; it was that Su Mo was too strong.
Two million angels, dozens of Almighty-Domain beings, a Cosmic Truth, a Another Cosmology... the Church had truly spared no expense, throwing almost everything they had into this fight.
This lineup was enough to conquer half of Little Garden, yet Su Mo had vanquished them all in one go.
Who could they blame?
Watching Su Mo, who seemed unsatisfied even after wiping out almost the entire Church, the gods couldn't help but sigh.
So arrogant! Not even a Last Embryo was ever this arrogant!
After their initial shock, the war gods among the various pantheons began to offer their expert commentary.
"Don't be fooled by how easy he made it look. If it weren't for the Another Cosmology 'Virtual Star Tai Sui,' he might not have won so smoothly. He might have even lost."
"No, even with 'Virtual Star Tai Sui,' if his timing hadn't been so perfect, he wouldn't have been able to achieve an instant kill!"
"So what you're saying is, it wasn't about how well he fought, but how well Gabriel telegraphed the move!"
If Gabriel had heard their conclusions, she might have died of shame.
In the eyes of the gods, the loyal Michael had fought with all his might, only to be dragged down by his incompetent teammate. Otherwise, the outcome might have been different.
Amidst this wave of public opinion, many gods who were unfamiliar with the Lower Realms of Little Garden were curious as to where Su Mo had obtained such a Another Cosmology.
---||---
In the Thousand Eyes headquarters, within Shiroyasha's private quarters, which no one dared to enter uninvited.
"Well done! Canary, you did wonderfully!"
Seeing Su Mo annihilate the Church, grinding the entire pantheon under his heel, Shiroyasha let out a long sigh of relief. Her worries dispelled, she happily praised Canary.
The previous night, when Su Mo had decided he had to investigate the Demon Lord Alliance, both Canary and the Queen Halloween had offered him items for protection.
The item Canary had thought of was the Another Cosmology "Virtual Star Tai Sui."
The community founded by the Star Sea Dragon King was a member of the Arcadia Grand Alliance, and the two communities had a good relationship. Canary was very familiar with the effects of the Another Cosmology they possessed.
That was why she had thought of borrowing it. Against an enemy like the Church, which was primarily composed of innate gods and buddhas, this power was incredibly effective.
Now, a part of Su Mo's victory was thanks to Canary.
After Shiroyasha's praise, the Queen Halloween, seated on her throne, also gave a nod of approval.
No one was happier than her to see Su Mo tear through her enemies, crushing the Church beneath his feet.
Faced with the praise of the two problem children, Canary just blinked and waved her hand modestly.
"Don't say that, Lady Shiroyasha! This has nothing to do with me. Wasn't 'Virtual Star Tai Sui' a Gift stolen by the Demon Lord, Miss Algol?"
"Mm, alright, we'll go with that," Shiroyasha said, suppressing a laugh and speaking in a serious tone.
"The Demon Lord Algol suddenly went berserk and stole 'Virtual Star Tai Sui,' only to be defeated by the righteous hero, Su Mo. After using it in an emergency, he honorably returned it. It was definitely not borrowed! And he has no private connection with Su Mo whatsoever!"
"That's right, that's how it was!"
Initially, she had indeed planned to borrow the Gift, but Su Mo had quickly stopped her.
The Church was the main backer of the Demon Lord Alliance, but that didn't mean they were the only ones involved. If he used a Gift borrowed by Canary, Arcadia would undoubtedly be exposed.
And the current Arcadia could not afford to be targeted by any pantheon.
Therefore, Canary had changed her strategy, from "borrowing" to "stealing" and then "returning."
With the right execution, they could both conceal their connection and give Su Mo an extra layer of protection.
It was because of these arrangements that Su Mo had been delayed by half a night, only arriving at the Demon Lord Alliance's location this morning.
Overall, their plan had been very effective.
Most importantly, Su Mo's strength had far exceeded their imagination.
They had thought that this time, Su Mo would need to bring the Flügel legion, or the Ex-Machina legion Jibril had mentioned, to face the entire pantheon.
They had never expected that with just his own power, with just that divine Sword of Victory and its Cosmic Truth, he would be able to pacify almost the entire pantheon.
Only then did they realize that Su Mo had been holding back before.
Otherwise, neither the Asura King nor Michael would have had the right to stand before him.
In terms of battlefield dominance, the extreme power Su Mo had displayed was almost on par with the Full-Authority Domain.
Now, it wasn't just a matter of fighting Su Mo head-on.
To even stand before him, one would need to at least master a Cosmic Truth.
Otherwise, one wouldn't even have the right to stand.
Marveling at Su Mo's heaven-defying combat power, Shiroyasha's eyes shone as she gazed at his figure on the battlefield, a goofy smile on her face, her delight obvious.
"Like a fool," the Queen Halloween said with a disdainful look, refusing to be associated with such a lovesick idiot.
"..."
Canary glanced at the corner of the Queen's mouth, which was unconsciously turned up in a smile. She hesitated, then decided not to say it out loud.
Aren't you just the same as Lady Shiroyasha?
Lord Su Mo is truly a sinful man.
After a moment of silent reflection, she looked at the calm, seemingly concluded battlefield, cleared her throat, and voiced a serious concern.
"Ahem! This is no time to celebrate. What Lord Su Mo said makes a lot of sense."
"Will the Church really be content to end things with such a crushing defeat?"
At her words, the smiles on Shiroyasha's and the Queen Halloween's faces vanished, and they began to think seriously.
One person overwhelming an entire pantheon. With the restriction on the Full-Authority Domain, this seemed to be the final outcome of the battle.
But would the Son of God really allow it to end like this?
This time, when the three-digit beings of the Church descended, they had all collectively ignored and broken the fundamental rule of descending as humans.
With that kind of attitude, would the Son of God really restrain himself and abide by the established rule that the Full-Authority Domain could not intervene?
Judging by the Church's overall behavior recently, it seemed unlikely.