The sudden appearance of Calderon in the Eighth Abyss startled Chaos Prince.
Chaos Prince had heard of Calderon before.
One thing he was absolutely certain of: the old man standing before him could kill him with a single punch.
Thor, for all his power, still adhered to a certain logic. As long as the demon gods didn't cross the line, Thor wouldn't go out of his way to annihilate them.
But Calderon was different.
Calderon was called a madman because he truly was one.
Without the restraint of the human Supre Beings, no one could predict the chaos he might unleash.
The mont Chaos Prince saw Calderon, Mike's doubts began to clear up.
This wasn't sothing Cedric alone could handle.
Even though Cedric hadn't crossed the 989-level threshold, his combat power was that of a true Ultimate Lord.
But even so, he wasn't enough for this situation.
Apollo had already made it clear he wouldn't intervene.
He couldn't kill Ares, nor could he show up on the battlefield. All he could do was finish what he needed to do and then stand aside.
Mike calculated the forces at play: Blood Ultimate Lord Terenas counted as one, Michael... barely counted as half, and now Calderon was in the mix.
That made three Ultimate Lord-level combatants.
Still... it wasn't enough.
Mike turned to Calderon and asked,
"What's the next step?"
"Let's go!" Calderon said seriously.
"To the First Abyss."
Without hesitation, the two set off for the First Abyss.
Supre Abyssal.
Ares had sent away all his sword servants but hadn't imdiately attacked the Supre Demon God.
He didn't want to wait any longer. He wanted to settle things with the Supre Demon God once and for all.
But before that, he was waiting for soone.
He didn't have to wait long. That person arrived.
Dressed in blue, Cedric appeared outside the Supre Abyssal.
Not far behind him was a burly man holding a flail-Maxen.
Maxen scratched his head, unsure of what to say.
Cedric's arrival signaled that the most critical mont had co.
Maxen wasn't prepared for what was about to happen.
In his mind, the human Supre Beings were the only ones capable of standing against the Supre Demon God.
Ares... how could he lose?
How could he die?
Maxen instinctively rejected the possibility.
Since Cedric was here, he felt compelled to say sothing.
Casually, he remarked,
"No matter how many tis I see it, Ares's swordsmanship is unmatched. No one in the world can compare."
Ares nodded slightly.
From the mont Ares picked up a sword, he was destined to beco a Supre Being.
Many years of praise had built up to this mont.
Was Ares strong?
Yes, strong enough for Cedric to praise him for two hundred years without repeating himself.
A faint smile appeared on Ares's lips.
As a human Supre Being and the greatest swordsman, Ares didn't know everything.
He didn't know what Cedric intended to do with the sword he carried, nor what effect it would have.
But Ares was certain of one thing: letting Cedric, at 989 levels, wield that sword was a waste. There was no way Cedric could unleash the sword's full potential.
Cedric's problem was that he couldn't cross the threshold.
But the reason Cedric couldn't cross it was because his talent was too strong.
If he ever did cross that line and beco an Ultimate Lord, he would imdiately rank among
the top Ultimate Lords, nearing the strength of a quasi-Supre Being.
For soone without an SSS-level talent or a Supre Mark, Cedric had already gone as far as anyone could.
The only question was whether he could take that final step.
Cedric smiled faintly and said nothing.
As for how to break through... he didn't know either.
Apollo had only told him that when the ti ca, he would surpass level 990. What
happened after that was up to Cedric.
So, Cedric waited.
Waited for what?
He didn't know. Maybe a miracle.
First Abyss.
When Mike and Calderon arrived at the First Abyss, Calderon thought he had co to the
wrong place.
"Why is this place so shiny?"
The First Abyss, now covered in gold, made Calderon feel out of place.
Mike, unfazed, said matter-of-factly,
"Yeah, no idea what Ares was thinking, always ssing around with flashy nonsense..."
[Why don't you say that to Ares's face? I'd respect you as a hero.]
Mike ignored White Dog's sarcastic comnt and turned to Calderon.
"So, what are we here for?"
"Found it!"
Calderon walked up to a shadowy figure, muttered a string of curses, and kicked it hard.
"Get out of the way, you useless piece of trash!"
Archdemon:...
He was, after all, the Archdemon of the Abyss, the top dog of the Abyss.
And yet?
He had been reduced to this, with no dignity left thanks to the humans.
Grumbling, the Archdemon rolled over as Calderon had instructed.
When the Archdemon moved aside, Mike froze.
He hadn't expected this.
Beneath the Archdemon was a hole.
A broken hole.
A passage leading directly to the Supre Abyssal!
The Archdemon had been lying on top of it, using his body to suppress the passage under
Calderon's orders.
Calderon grinned.
"I punched that hole. Pretty strong, huh?"
For a hole to remain hidden for so long, it was indeed impressive.
The First Abyss was the closest place to the Supre Abyssal, but even so, creating a passage
between the two was incredibly difficult. Calderon's punch was no small feat.
Of course, Calderon could hide it from others, but not from the Supre Beings.
Apollo knew what Calderon was up to, but Ares simply didn't care to guess.
Mike stared at the hole, another question forming in his mind.
"You went through all that trouble to escape the Supre Abyssal, and now you're going
back? What's the point?"
Calderon, in a surprisingly good mood, explained,
"This hole is outside the Supre Abyssal. The key is to connect the Supre Abyssal to this
world."
As he spoke, two more figures arrived.
Terenas and Michael.
There was no small talk. Neither Terenas nor Michael had much respect for Calderon, and
Calderon didn't think much of them either.
Under different circumstances, Calderon might have killed them both on a whim.
"Let's get started."
Terenas glanced at Michael and said casually,
"You're lucky to be alive. Getting a second chance is like winning the lottery for you."
Michael's head filled with question marks.
What did that an?
Was he about to get screwed over again?
And judging by the tone, it sounded like they were planning to kill him this ti!
I'm Apollo's disciple!
Michael suddenly realized that this title didn't seem to carry much weight.
Its only purpose was to make his tombstone inscription longer and more dramatic.
"Stop wasting ti. Let's move!" Calderon barked.
At his command, the five of them jumped into the hole, erging just outside the Supre
Abyssal.
At this point, Mike once again consulted the Eye of Truth, asking how Ares could survive.
[Ares does have a chance to survive, but...]
[There's nothing you need to do.]
Mike stared at the answer in silence.
So that's how it was?
It made sense...
Saving Ares wasn't sothing Mike could do alone.
Two hundred years ago, Ares awakened his talent and beca the second-generation human
potential Supre Being.
One hundred years ago, Supre Being Ares fought the Supre Demon God to the death,
suffering grievous injuries and nearly dying.
From that mont on, humanity's top powers began pondering a single question: How do we
save Ares?
Humanity couldn't rely on a yet-to-be-born potential Supre Being to solve Ares's
problem.
Just like when Nathan opened the Tower of Truth, pinning all hope on one or two powerful individuals was foolish.
Humanity had co this far by relying on its own strength.
After a century or more of preparation, humanity's trump cards were finally being revealed.
Humanity didn't have many Ultimate Lords, but this situation already involved three of
them! If they failed... even without considering the loss of Ares, the gap left by the Ultimate Lords would be a devastating blow to humanity.
But humanity had made a promise to protect its potential Supre Beings, and it would keep
that promise.
Even if Ares was a Supre Being, that didn't an humanity wouldn't do sothing for
him.
Who said Supre Beings didn't need protectors?
If humanity could do it, it would.
And if it couldn't, it would create the conditions to make it possible.
Inside the Supre Abyssal.
A powerful force descended, pushing Ace's strength to new heights.
As his power surged, blood began to seep from Ace's nose and mouth.
Shadow Nine was alard. Things were spiraling out of control.
"What is Calderon trying to do?"
Ace cursed through gritted teeth.
"He's trying to kill !"
If not for his Near-Death Power Up, Ace would have died countless tis already.
The power Calderon was sending him far exceeded what Ace could handle.
Worse, Ace couldn't even absorb most of it. The majority of the energy was wasted.
Ace's expression darkened further as he realized sothing.
"That old fool... he's de-leveling himself!"
Ace shouted in disbelief.
"998... no, 997..."
In his perception, Calderon's level was plumting, dropping like a stone.
What was this crazy old man trying to do?!
Above the Supre Abyssal. Cedric remained where he was, unmoving.
If he couldn't reach level 990, then level 990 would have to co to him.
A Gate of Truth suddenly appeared in the sky, slowly drifting toward Cedric.
Maxen, anwhile, was confused. He looked at the chains sealing his power and muttered,
"I wasn't planning to break through yet..."
Where had this gate co from? Wait... could it be for Cedric?!
Maxen's eyes lit up. Was this it?
From his vantage point, Mike had already pieced together the situation.
Blood Ultimate was feeding his power back into Michael, forcibly pushing him to level 989,
creating enough energy to summon the Gate of Truth.
Calderon, on the other hand, was sacrificing his own levels, reverse-plumting through
level 990.
Both steps were necessary. Without either, the gate wouldn't have appeared.
The gate had initially appeared because of Michael.
But Blood Ultimate would hold Michael back, preventing him from passing through.
During that ti, Cedric would have the chance to cross the gate! Crossing the gate ant surpassing level 990 and becoming an Ultimate Lord!
Of course, Cedric would pay a heavy price for this-falling back below Ultimate Lord status
would be the least of it.
But none of that mattered now.
This was Cedric's only chance to beco an Ultimate Lord.
At least, for now, it was.
Carrying the Gate of Truth on his back, Calderon was drenched in blood, looking like a true
demon god.
The cost of forcibly de-leveling himself was unimaginable. Calderon was triggering Near-
Death Power Up almost every second.
His aura was chaotic, his body covered in blood, a pitiful sight.
No matter the outco, there would be no Calderon after this.
But Calderon didn't care.
He had gone mad the day Nathan died.
He had wanted to kill the Archdemon, to avenge Nathan and himself.
Apollo had given him a second chance.
Helping Cedric break through to level 990 and wield that sword to save Ares...
That was humanity's only chance to kill the Supre Demon God.
No matter how much Calderon disliked Cedric, he was willing to help this ti.
He roared,
"Go through!"
Cedric untied the wine flask at his waist, took a swig, and stepped through the gate.
On the other side, the world opened up.
Wiping the wine from his lips, Cedric stood up, stretched lazily, and said with mild surprise,
"Huh?"
His tone was casual, almost indifferent.
"I beca an Ultimate Lord?"
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