Faced with the Son of God's cowardice, the World-Honored One was speechless, though not entirely surprised.
He didn't say much.
This was no time to pass the buck. Su Mo wouldn't allow them to delay, and given the Son of God's current behavior, he certainly wasn't going to put himself in harm's way.
At this moment, the only path forward was for him to step up and make the sacrifice.
"If I do not enter hell, who will?"
Chanting a Buddhist mantra, the World-Honored One took the initiative, moving to face Su Mo as the Three Thousand Worlds in his palm blazed with light.
"Though I may not have the chance to explain the reasons to you, Lord Su Mo, I hope that after this battle, with my death as the price, you will reconsider the pantheons and our long-held wish!"
The Buddha's eye of wisdom stared at Su Mo. His gaze held the diamond-hard will of one who had resolved to die, yet the compassion in his features remained unchanged.
Even now, knowing full well that Su Mo would easily kill him for stepping forward, his only desire was to seal Su Mo, not to kill him.
Regardless of whether his actions were right or wrong, this self-sacrificing demeanor—like cutting one's own flesh to feed an eagle—was indeed identical to the legends.
"As a fellow member of the Sun King Alliance, allow me, as your senior, to offer one final piece of advice: saving the world is the divine mission of us gods and buddhas!"
With this final reminder, the World-Honored One made his move.
Another Cosmology: Three Thousand Worlds, unfurled on the spot.
The Buddhist cosmology, targeting Su Mo, directly invaded the world of the Little Garden.
At the same instant, Su Mo activated Virtual Star Tai Sui.
*BOOM!!!*
A multitude of golden Buddhist lights clashed with the stellar radiance of the celestial equator. The confrontation between the two Another Cosmologies radiated a pressure that the entire material world could not withstand.
The aftershocks, powerful enough to destroy worlds, spread out, shattering the canopy of the sky. The heavens above and the earth below were split into two distinct realms, a clear line drawn between them.
The so-called "hallowed grounds" were nothing before the expanding cosmologies.
One cosmology, which could unconditionally seal innate gods and Celestial Star Spirits, faced off against another that could manifest the six realms of reincarnation and countless parallel worlds.
A clash of this magnitude should not have been decided so easily. It was generally difficult to quickly determine a victor between two cosmologies.
However, considering Su Mo wielded Ame-no-Murakumo, a stalemate was as good as a victory for him.
All Su Mo had to do was activate Ame-no-Murakumo during the deadlock, seal the World-Honored One's Divinity Power while he was unable to dodge, and he could cut down the Buddha and claim victory on the spot.
The World-Honored One knew this better than anyone: a direct confrontation with Su Mo meant certain defeat.
Therefore—
"Son of God!"
At the moment of impact, the Buddha let out a lion's roar.
Even someone as powerful as Su Mo, even with Ame-no-Murakumo in hand, could not possibly face two Another Cosmologies at once.
If the Son of God activated Eden at this very opportunity, the instant their powers clashed, victory would be theirs!
Su Mo could defeat him, but he could not win this battle!
Feeling the Christian cosmology unfurling behind him in sync, the Buddha smiled the smile of one who has attained enlightenment.
He knew he might die, but the Son of God would surely win!
The next moment—
*SCHLICK!*
The sound of a blade piercing a divine body rang out.
The aura of a two-digit Full-Authority Domain instantly withered, its wielder grievously wounded on the spot. Divine blood rained upon the earth as the light of Eden's cosmology shone brilliantly.
Evidently, Christianity's Another Cosmology had sounded the horn of victory, leaving a Full-Authority Domain on the brink of death.
From that description alone, it seemed their strategy had worked flawlessly.
However, when the gods and buddhas witnessed what had actually transpired on the battlefield, they were utterly dumbfounded.
This was a possibility no one had foreseen.
Even the World-Honored One, upon seeing this, wore an expression of sheer disbelief. The Buddha's eye could perceive all three realms, but what was happening before him was truly not in any of the possible scripts.
"How could this be?!" Gabriel, prostrate on the ground, roared in fury and disbelief, her eyes bloodshot.
It wasn't just her; nearly every angel was in a state of complete shock.
Because the two-digit being who had been struck head-on by Christianity's Another Cosmology, Eden, whose flesh had been pierced and whose Divinity had been judged, leaving him on the verge of death... was not Su Mo.
"Michael, why did you strike the Son of God?"
The World-Honored One completely forgot his own battle with Su Mo, his voice filled with horror as he questioned the shocking scene before him.
At the same time, the Son of God, whose divine blood was spilling onto the earth, whose aura had completely faded, unable to even use his Gifts to heal himself, stared up with an expression of utter incomprehension.
"Michael... you betrayed... me?"
Yes, in that critical instant, the one who seized the perfect moment to attack was none other than the Vice-Lord of Heaven, Archangel Michael.
And the one struck by Christianity's Another Cosmology was the head of the Christian pantheon himself, the Son of God.
At the most crucial moment, the Son of God had been betrayed by his own archangel, not only missing his chance for victory but also forfeiting his own life.
Witnessing this betrayal firsthand, everyone present was filled with confusion.
Could it be that Christianity's myth was re-enacting itself, and this Vice-Lord of Heaven was destined to become a fallen angel as well?
"I am merely following the Lord's will."
The Lord's will?
The gods and buddhas were momentarily stunned. What kind of excuse was that? The Son of God certainly hadn't ordered Michael to kill him.
But then they remembered—the "Lord" Michael spoke of was likely not the Son of God before them, but the God of old Testament.
But... hadn't the Christian God fallen long ago?
Under the bewildered gazes of the crowd, Michael slowly raised the holy spear in his hand. The formula of the Seven Deadly Sins, bestowed upon him by Su Mo, activated, and the power that held Christianity's cosmic truth—a power sufficient to judge even gods—reappeared.
Then, he aimed the tip of the spear down toward the clouds, at the dying Full-Authority Domain on the earth below, who bore the weight of all sins.
Seeing this action, the angels of Christianity went mad.
"Stop, Michael! Do you intend to commit deicide?!"
Everyone realized what he was about to do.
The reason he wasn't using his customary Thorned Sword of Fire was to fully unleash the power of the weapon now in his hand. The Lance of Longinus—the very spear that had once reversed the boundary between man and god, the spear that had once killed the Son of God.
This spear's sole purpose was to slay gods!
Even a Full-Authority Domain could not emerge unscathed when facing a sure-kill weapon of this type. What's more, the Son of God had just taken the full brunt of an Another Cosmology's attack, something no innate god could withstand head-on.
At this moment, even an ordinary mortal wielding this weapon could kill the Son of God for good, let alone the top-tier three-digit Michael.
The angels wanted to throw themselves in the way, but they too had lost their power and could do nothing.
Among the observing gods and buddhas, some might have wanted to intervene, but none dared to join a battle of Full-Authority Domains.
In this tense atmosphere, Michael met Su Mo's gaze from afar. After receiving his lord's permission, he unleashed his Divinity Power at full force, plummeting toward the earth like a meteor at the Sixth Cosmic Velocity.
*BOOM!!!*
A scene reminiscent of the Star of Bethlehem's return appeared, only this time, it heralded not the coming of the Son of God, but his fall.
In that instant, a Full-Authority Domain-level Divinity Power completely dissipated.
The Son of God, leader of the Christian pantheon, had fallen in battle.
"Son of God!"
Watching Michael about to deliver the final blow, the World-Honored One couldn't help but want to intervene.
If the Son of God fell, not only would many of their plans come to a halt, but human history itself would face a massive upheaval.
Regardless of his character, Christianity had an extremely important influence on the whole of human history.
Moreover, on the current battlefield, losing the Son of God meant something even more terrifying.
However—
"Do you really have time to worry about others?"
Before he could interfere with Michael, Su Mo, aided by Queen Halloween's Boundary Gift, had already appeared beside him.
The qualifications of the Fusang Pantheon's chief god manifested, and the domain of Ame-no-Murakumo fully expanded.
Both Su Mo's and the Buddha's Divinity Powers were completely sealed.
The two Another Cosmologies, before they could even decide a victor, fell silent as their wielders were neutralized.
The blade of Ame-no-Murakumo was already resting on the Buddha's neck, ready to take his head at any moment.
In less than a second, the tables had completely turned.
The Son of God had fallen, the Buddha defeated.
The outcome of the one-versus-two battle was Su Mo's complete victory.
Faced with this result, the gods and buddhas were shrouded in a deathly silence.
They had never witnessed such a bizarre battle, nor had they ever imagined such a terrifying conclusion.
A million-strong pantheon, Full-Authority Domains, cosmic truths, Another Cosmologies... every conceivable top-tier power had been brought to bear, yet they were all defeated by a single man.
Looking back through the entire history of the Little Garden since its creation, to find someone who could single-handedly silence the entire realm...
Besides Su Mo, there would likely never be another.