In the world of Little Garden, due to the Omnipotence Paradox, the spiritual essences of all beings in the Almighty Domain were perfectly equal, with the exception of the special-rank three-digit Queen Halloween.
Even if one were to temporarily expand their spiritual essence using a Gift, there were limits. It was impossible to double one's power in a surge.
But now, the rate at which Su Mo's spiritual essence was expanding was far beyond a mere doubling.
At this terrifying rate, could it be that he was telling the truth? Was he really ascending to the Full-Authority Domain?
Though Su Mo had stated his intention from the beginning, not a single god or buddha had dared to believe him at first. It was only after ruling out all other possibilities that they had forced themselves to consider it.
It wasn't because they underestimated Su Mo.
It was because, in Little Garden, ascending to the Full-Authority Domain was not something one could achieve with a mere flick of the tongue.
In the dawn of Little Garden, a time of warring gods, how many pantheons had been completely annihilated in the divine wars for lack of a Full-Authority Domain protector, their names not even recorded in mythological history?
How many pantheons had staked everything to produce a being of the Full-Authority Domain, sacrificing countless chief gods only to end in failure, unable to change their fate?
The current top-tier pantheons of Little Garden, the Buddhist and Christian faiths, owed their status to the early emergence of leaders at the Full-Authority Domain level.
The Full-Authority Domain was simply too important, too powerful, and too difficult to achieve. Even a genius like the Queen Halloween was stuck at the special-rank three-digit level, unable to ascend.
It had even been prophesied that there were only seventeen seats in the Full-Authority Domain of Little Garden, no more, no less.
In this game of musical chairs where the seats were already set, becoming a member of the Full-Authority Domain was almost a matter of fate.
If you weren't born with the potential, you would never have it.
Under such circumstances, how could anyone believe Su Mo when he spoke of ascending in such a casual tone?
However, no matter how unbelievable it was, as they felt Su Mo's spiritual essence continue to expand without pause, the barriers in their minds were shattered.
The scale of his spiritual essence had already surpassed that of the special-rank three-digit Queen Halloween.
Besides ascending to the Full-Authority Domain, what other possibility was there?
"How is this possible?"
In the Divine Army, Indra's bull-like eyes widened in disbelief. He suspected he was dreaming.
Otherwise, how could he be witnessing someone transcend levels as easily as drinking water?
No matter how highly he had estimated Su Mo, he had never imagined he could achieve this.
In fact, everything Su Mo did seemed to rewrite his worldview.
"What a terrifying being..."
Even his colleague, Brahma, looked on in awe.
Across all of Little Garden, those who could ascend to the Full-Authority Domain were the absolute ceiling, second only to the Demon Lord of Decadence.
Faced with such a being, even they, the heads of the Divine Army, the Twelve Devas, had to show respect.
Calling Su Mo a "young hero" before was simply due to his age, a somewhat inappropriate form of address from an elder to a junior, in the context of the young Verethragna.
If Su Mo successfully ascended to the Full-Authority Domain, regardless of the outcome of the battle, they would have to bow to him and call him "Lord."
This was the most basic respect due to a being in the Full-Authority Domain.
"However, the cosmology he's wreathed in this time... why does it feel a little familiar?"
After a moment of awe, Brahma frowned, a sense of déjà vu washing over him.
"Really? I don't recognize it this time. It doesn't seem to be the power of Zoroastrianism," Indra said, scratching his head.
Though both of them had submitted to the Buddhist pantheon, their spiritual essences originated from different faiths.
Indra's original form was the Zoroastrian evil god of the same name, who had later abandoned evil for good due to the sacrifice of the Moon Rabbit and converted to Buddhism, becoming the head of the benevolent gods.
Brahma's original identity was one of the Trimurti of the Hindu pantheon. It was only later, when the Hindu pantheon was absorbed by the Buddhist faith and the beliefs in Brahma and Indra were incorporated as the "Brahma-Indra Pair," that he became the Brahma of the Twelve Devas.
Indra was incredibly familiar with the cosmology Su Mo had used before, even if he couldn't wield it himself. It was the cosmology of Zoroastrianism.
But this time, he didn't recognize the power Su Mo was using...
"Wait a minute!"
Just as he was about to shake his head in confusion, Indra's eyes widened in sudden realization.
To use the power of Hinduism, not Zoroastrianism, to ascend to the Full-Authority Domain?
As the Heavenly Emperor, who also had deep ties to Hindu mythology, he almost immediately thought of an important cosmology and an important Gift in the Trimurti system of Hindu mythology.
"Could it be that Su Mo is now using the Another Cosmology of the Hindu pantheon?!"
The instant before Indra reached his conclusion, Gabriel, who had been watching Su Mo's aura surge, had already realized the truth after her initial shock.
The Gift Su Mo was using was the very one he had just snatched from her. How could she not be familiar with it?
"Avatāra! Son of God! He's using the power of the Another Cosmology Avatāra!"
Any god with a basic knowledge of mythology would instantly understand how Su Mo was able to ascend to the Full-Authority Domain.
The word "Avatāra" came from Sanskrit and translated to the plural form of "incarnation." In mythology, it usually referred to the ten incarnations of Vishnu.
With the word "community" before it, Avatāra referred to the community formed by the ten incarnations of Vishnu, the "Solar Kings Avatāra," a top-tier community that included the first incarnation, the Ark; the second incarnation, Kurma; the ninth incarnation, Gautama Siddhartha; and many other three-digit and two-digit beings.
With the words "Another Cosmology" before it, it referred to the power Su Mo was now using.
As long as one had the proper qualifications to master this Another Cosmology and met the corresponding conditions, one could directly complete their spiritual essence to the Full-Authority Domain level, becoming the most mysterious, most powerful, and final of the ten incarnations of the Solar Kings.
Gabriel's reaction was swift.
However—
"Too late!" the Storyteller, who had been ignored until now, grinned. "The moment you were defeated... no, the moment the Son of God decided not to descend with you, this ending was already set in stone!"
As a bystander, he saw things more clearly.
The reason Su Mo was displaying this power was that his enemies could no longer stop him.
So, no matter how much Gabriel regretted it, it was useless.
And it was true.
Of the twenty-five Sun Authorities Su Mo possessed, ten were used to fill the vacancies in the Another Cosmology Avatāra.
A single Sun Authority was enough to complete the spiritual essence of a top-tier four-digit innate god. Three were enough for a top-tier three-digit being.
With ten Sun Authorities, the requirements of Avatāra were met almost instantly.
This, the most demanding of conditions, an achievement that even Vishnu himself had not accomplished in his lifetime, was easily reached by Su Mo.
With the conditions met, the Another Cosmology Avatāra was instantly refined by Su Mo.
Strength unattainable by man, wisdom unattainable by man, starlight unattainable by man...
The power of ten perfections now resided within Su Mo. With the natural unification of his authorities, his power finally stabilized in the Full-Authority Domain.
The tenth incarnation of Vishnu, the savior who comes on a white horse with a sword in hand on the eve of the world's destruction, Kalki, had appeared!
Having successfully completed his spiritual essence and donned the persona of Kalki, Su Mo casually met the Son of God's holy light.
The attack, which could easily slay a three-digit being in the Almighty Domain, touched Su Mo's palm and was instantly reduced to two colors, red and black.
"Original Sin and Judgment. These are the authorities you've unified?"
As he spoke, Su Mo gave a gentle squeeze.
The red and black authorities shattered like translucent glass, and Su Mo's hand was completely unharmed.
After ascending to the Full-Authority Domain, the method of unifying authorities was no longer a secret to Su Mo.
Of course, it was no secret to the Son of God either.
"This nature... is Purification one of the authorities you've unified?"
Looking at Su Mo, who had now ascended to his level, his attitude became extremely grave.
A battle between beings in the Full-Authority Domain was not as easy as before.
It was a battle that could very well end in death.
And if he were to fall, the entire Church would vanish from Little Garden, and all his ambitions would become nothing more than a fleeting dream.