"Release the World-Honored One!"
"Stop!"
"Could you please give me some face?"
Unlike the Son of God, whose Christian faction had been wiped out, leaving no one to attempt a rescue, the World-Honored One was clearly much more popular.
Seeing him fall into Su Mo's hands, the gods and buddhas of the Buddhist sect, as well as those from friendly pantheons, all wanted to rush forward and save him.
Unfortunately, whether they tried to approach in person or use their Gifts, everything they attempted was nullified the moment they stepped into the domain of Ame-no-Murakumo.
Within this domain, perhaps only a hero whose martial arts had reached the realm of the abyss void could pose even the slightest threat to Su Mo.
Regrettably, the one widely recognized as the strongest martial artist in the Little Garden, Scáthach, Queen of the Land of Shadows, was on Su Mo's side. And Su Mo's own skills were in no way inferior to hers.
Thus, a thousand-meter radius around Su Mo became an impassable death zone.
Even Indra, who had come to negotiate, could only stand at the edge of the domain, not daring to cross the line.
All the pantheons of the Little Garden combined could not get close to Su Mo.
Of course, another reason they didn't dare approach was Queen Halloween, who stood guard at the edge of the domain. From the scorching, proprietary look in her eyes, it was clear that anyone who made an "unfriendly" attempt would be immediately added to her kill list.
A woman in love could be far more terrifying than any Demon Lord.
"Why?"
Under Su Mo's sword, the World-Honored One asked this question.
For him, who had already been prepared to die, the threat of death was nothing. At most, he felt a slight regret at not achieving his goal.
Compared to his confirmed defeat, he was far more concerned about the unbelievable scene that had unfolded earlier.
"Why what?" Su Mo asked, feigning ignorance.
"Why did Michael betray him?" the World-Honored One asked patiently.
This was the one thing he, and indeed all the gods and buddhas, could not comprehend.
"Who knows? Maybe he found out about the Dystopia Demon Lord?" Su Mo said casually.
"..."
The World-Honored One fell silent for a moment before shaking his head.
"Even so, that's no reason to ally with you... What exactly happened in that battle?"
Although he didn't know the specifics, the Buddha's wisdom allowed him to keenly sense that the turning point in Michael's behavior had occurred right after the battle with the Asura King yesterday. He just didn't know how Su Mo had convinced the archangel to commit treason.
Just as he was about to press further, Su Mo suddenly waved to Queen Halloween, who was standing outside the domain.
Then, the Boundary of the Stars opened, and a slender Celestial Star Spirit girl with long, lapis lazuli-colored hair jumped out.
Upon seeing Su Mo, the girl's eyes lit up. She pattered over to his side and, under Queen Halloween's death glare, affectionately hugged his arm.
"Master!"
After the hug, the girl jumped up and down a few times, curiously touching her own body.
"So Ame-no-Murakumo can even seal the Divinity Power of a Celestial Star Spirit? And wow, a normal person's body is so weak! Good thing Al-chan's cuteness hasn't changed! Mmm, and Master's cuteness hasn't changed either!"
This was likely the first time Algol, an innate Celestial Star Spirit, had ever experienced the world of the weak.
After a moment of novelty, Algol asked curiously, "Master, why did you only call for me now? Al-chan wanted to come out and fight the pantheons with you earlier! Why didn't you include Al-chan in something so fun?"
Just a moment ago, Queen Halloween and Shiroyasha were far from the only ones who wanted to fight alongside Su Mo.
Unfortunately, Su Mo was too fast and too strong. He had single-handedly taken care of everything without needing their help.
"I called you this time for him," Su Mo said, pointing to the Buddha under his sword, showing no intention of answering Algol's question. He hadn't brought a lot of people along this time; he couldn't possibly explain it to Jibril and the others one by one.
Luckily, Algol had a childlike temperament and was quickly distracted, her attention drawn to the Buddha.
"Eh? Hahahaha! Shakya, look at you now!"
Algol laughed, a wild, unrestrained laugh.
As the most arrogant of the Problem Children, she had grudges with all the three thousand Asuras and gods, which naturally included the World-Honored One of the Buddhist sect. Seeing her nemesis defeated at her master's hands, she naturally began to taunt him with schadenfreude.
"Demon Star Algol, it has been a long time."
The World-Honored One's attitude toward the Demon Lord didn't change much, nor was he surprised by her relationship with Su Mo. He showed no sign of shame or anger, even as the childish Celestial Star Spirit mocked him.
"Tch! So boring!" Algol pouted, feeling a bit let down. "Master, do you need me to do something?" she asked, looking up at Su Mo.
"Use your authority as a Demon Lord and empty out his Gift Card."
Su Mo stated his intention. Acquiring spoils of war was the one thing in the Little Garden that required a formal process; one couldn't just plunder at will.
"Ooh! Raiding the house! Al-chan is great at this!"
Algol's eyes lit up. As a Demon Lord, this was her bread and butter!
Even with their Divinity Power sealed, the Gift Game itself, provided by the Little Garden's central hub, could still be initiated!
Thus, Algol's authority as a Host was invoked, and she plundered all of the Buddha's precious Gifts, including the Buddhist sect's most valuable core Gift, Three Thousand Worlds.
Watching Algol loot his Gifts like a common bandit, the World-Honored One looked at Su Mo with utter astonishment.
The victor certainly had the right to the spoils; he did not object to that. What surprised him was something else entirely.
"You're not going to kill me?"
"What, are you eager to enter nirvana?" Su Mo raised an eyebrow, retorting before answering. "While killing you is an option, I'm more interested in what you were trying to explain to me earlier."
"The Son of God's case aside, for the Buddhist cosmology to actually support creationism... I want to confirm your true thoughts, as well as a few other things."
Compared to the unequivocally hostile Son of God, the World-Honored One's stance was much more ambiguous. Considering that he had never intended to kill, even when facing mortal danger himself, Su Mo was willing to hear him out.
Hearing this, the World-Honored One let out a sigh of relief. His original plan had been to explain everything to Su Mo and persuade him to join their cause. Now, despite his defeat, the opportunity was still there.
"About the matter of Three Thousand Worlds..." he began, hoping to negotiate. For the leader of a pantheon, an Another Cosmology was an incredibly important Gift.
But before he could finish, Su Mo suddenly looked up toward the Celestial Realm.
"More guests?"
Unlike the previous hallowing of the temple grounds, what was descending this time was something formless and intangible, similar to a cosmology.
Su Mo immediately retracted the domain of Ame-no-Murakumo, instead using Virtual Star Tai Sui to seal the World-Honored One. At the same time, he took Three Thousand Worlds into his palm.
As expected, Three Thousand Worlds, which normally only the World-Honored One could manifest, glowed obediently in Su Mo's hand, acknowledging its new master.
At that moment, two diametrically opposed cosmic truths unfolded.
Upon the battlefield, two goddesses—one black, one white; one in motion, one still—appeared silently before Su Mo.
Seeing the two of them, the majority of the gods and buddhas were bewildered. They looked familiar, but they couldn't recall where they had seen them before.
Only a very small number of innate gods and buddhas, who had been active since the dawn of the Little Garden, understood who they were. Though they rarely appeared, each time they did, it heralded a world-shaking event.
The gold coins issued by the Thousand Eyes commercial community bore their likenesses.
"The... the... the... the Twin Goddesses?!"
At the Thousand Eyes headquarters, Shiroyasha was so shocked she could barely speak upon seeing the incredibly familiar figures. She had thought the battle was over, but who could have predicted this twist?
"Wh-wh-why are they here?"
Canary, standing beside her, completely understood Shiroyasha's terror.
After all, the Twin Goddesses of Origin and Terminus who had just appeared were not only two Full-Authority Domain-level beings, not only cosmic truths who were innate two-digits from the very beginning, but also the powerful entities who had once defeated the White Night Demon Lord and forced her into their service.
Even now, Shiroyasha's Sovereignty was held in their hands.
As cosmic truths that had existed since the birth of the Little Garden, their combined power surpassed even that of the Buddha and the Son of God.
Su Mo had revealed a lot of information. If these two were hostile toward him... things could get troublesome.
"This won't do, I have to go see! The Twin Goddesses aren't that unreasonable!"
Despite her shock, Shiroyasha, thinking of the worst-case scenario, mustered her courage and prepared to go and explain.
"Don't worry!" Canary said, shaking her head. "With the power Lord Su Mo has demonstrated, the Twin Goddesses won't do anything foolish... The last god who was full of confidence just died a few minutes ago!"
Admittedly, for a Su Mo who had just gone through a fierce battle, the Twin Goddesses might be a bit of a problem. But at most, it would only be a "bit" of a problem.
At the very least, no one thought the current Su Mo could be defeated, especially after seeing him loot the Buddhist sect's Three Thousand Worlds. His combat power might even be greater now than before.
"That may be true, but I'm still worried... I'm going to go check it out!"
Beings on the level of cosmic truths weren't as fragile as innate gods, who would die from a single hit from an Another Cosmology.
While not as durable as Celestial Star Spirits or pure-blooded dragons, they still needed to be taken seriously, especially their combination attacks.
"If you insist on going, Lady Shiroyasha..."
Seeing how concerned Shiroyasha was, Canary quickly relented.
Unlike before, Su Mo had now demonstrated a status that transcended all of Christianity. Exposing the relationship between Shiroyasha and Su Mo at this point wouldn't cause any problems; no one would dare to say a word.
With Su Mo's current strength, there was no longer any need to hide anything.
No one wanted to offend a ruthless individual who could wipe out any pantheon at will.