Goosebumps erupted across his entire body—the sight before him was the stuff of nightmares.
Fist-sized creatures with twin horns, jagged maws, and grotesque tails—or were they more like insects?
Countless of these things sward over Papiyas, burrowing into his skin like leeches.
"What the hell are those?"
"Disgusting…"
"What kind of things has Beelzebub been researching?"
Spectators from both sides felt physically and psychologically unsettled by the sight.
The divine faction, in particular, grew uneasy. Were these grotesque, insect-like creations the only ones Beelzebub had made?
Surely there couldn't be more, right?
They couldn't help but worry—what if he released these things in the celestial realm? What if, while they slept, these creatures slithered into their bodies? Who knew what horrors would follow?
Choosing Beelzebub as the gods' representative had been a mistake from the start.
No—perhaps this very choice had revealed his true terror. Had he not participated, they might never have known what monstrous things he was researching.
By then, it might have been too late to prepare.
His gaze then focused intently on Papiyas. Those things burrowed into his body and slithered about eerily, causing bulges to writhe grotesquely beneath his skin—utterly revolting and terrifying.
Yet Papiyas himself seed to revel in the sensation, his expression one of pure ecstasy.
In the next instant, his body suddenly swelled, his fra growing even larger.
The muscles of his body beca more sharply defined, as if carved from stone, while dark patterns erged across his skin.
But these changes hardly concerned the gods—what truly alard them was the explosive surge in Papiyas's aura.
"Rooooooar—!"
He clenched his fists and howled toward the heavens!
"BOOM—!"
A deafening thunderclap erupted as a terrifying bolt of lightning descended from the sky, striking Papiyas directly. The sight left everyone stunned.
The sheer power of this lightning strike was unmistakable—it was no less formidable than Thor's divine thunder.
Was this an attack from King Solomon?
"Trash! Is this all you've got? Useless!"
Papiyas raised a defiant middle finger toward the heavens, as if taunting the sky itself. In response, the entire firmant writhed with serpentine bolts of lightning.
The next mont, the gathered energy at the center unleashed its fury in a devastating strike.
"T-This is divine retribution!!!"
Finally, soone recognized it and cried out in horror.
Divine retribution was different from divine punishnt—though many often confused the two, especially humans, who mistakenly believed them to be the sa.
This divine retribution was the World Tree of this space instinctively lashing out, sensing an intolerable threat that needed to be eradicated.
Yet what followed was even more horrifying.
A new bolt of retribution—one that even the chief gods found alarming—split in two the mont it touched Papiyas.
"W-What did he just do?!"
"This can't be real!"
"H-He tore the lightning apart?!"
Countless onlookers gaped in disbelief, their eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets in terror.
Papiyas had torn the lightning asunder—and with it, the storm clouds above were ripped apart, dispersing into nothingness.
For a mont, it seed impossible for them to reform.
"It seems he's fully awakened and revived..."
Hades' expression darkened with unprecedented gravity.
"W-What do we do, Lord Hades? Should we call off this battle?"
Ares, the God of War, was so panicked he could barely think straight.
After all, Hades had stated that this "Demon King of the Sixth Heaven Papiyas" had once nearly annihilated the Underworld—and the Underworld was no re pocket dinsion.
Hell, the Demon Realm, the Land of Roots—all of these fell under the domain of the Underworld.
So when Hades said "almost destroyed the entire Underworld," he ant all of it.
"Enough. Stop panicking—you're acting like so third-rate god."
Hades' words made Ares freeze, his face flushing crimson with sha rather than anger.
Not only did he dare not show anger outwardly, but he didn't even feel it inwardly—Ares held too much respect and fear for Hades.
"However—"
Hades didn't elaborate further, instead imdiately initiating a telepathic conversation with Zeus.
They had to prepare. This thing was no longer under Beelzebub's control.
Glancing at Beelzebub in the arena, who wore a faint smile, Hades sighed in resignation.
This bastard had finally achieved his goal.
Having shattered the divine retribution, Papiyas lowered his head from the sky and turned his gaze back toward Beelzebub.
He revealed a cruel smile, and then—
Thud—!
Everyone was stunned. Though they understood that Papiyas wanted to kill Beelzebub, witnessing this scene still left them in shock.
Papiyas' hand plunged directly into Beelzebub's chest, then pulled out—a still-beating heart, veins dangling.
"Uh… in that case, how should this final battle between gods and humans be counted?"
"Are you stupid? Is this really the ti to worry about that?"
A few gods were still concerned about the duel, only to be harshly scolded by others.
Right now, even the spectators were in danger.
But Beelzebub deserved this fate—who told him to recklessly research reviving such a monster?
Now, he'd been killed in turn.
"Ah, my apologies. I said I'd let you die quickly—I lied."
Papiyas, kneading the heart in his hand, revealed an utterly sinister expression.
How could he possibly grant his enemy a swift death?
Though this man had succeeded in fully reviving him, the sheer audacity to command and control him was an insult.
There was no way he'd let him die easily.
"But I wasn't entirely wrong. 'Letting you die quickly' is correct—just not in the way you think. If your agony brings great pleasure, isn't that still a 'quick' death?"
As he spoke, his fingertips dug into the heart, causing Beelzebub's body to convulse violently. Yet, the man still refused to scream?
No matter. He'd make sure to tornt him properly.
Just as he was about to further tornt the heart—
"Heh… finally erging? Then die here with ."
What was this fool saying?
Suddenly, Beelzebub gave Papiyas an unfamiliar feeling.
The eyes that had seed resigned now burned with unmistakable emotion—no, desire. Desire… for Papiyas?
What?
"Huh? What is this?"
Papiyas froze in shock as the heart in his hand suddenly sprouted countless root-like tendrils, rapidly spreading across his entire arm.
Was it trying to devour him?
"Hahaha! You think you can eat ? You really think you're—"
His voice cut off abruptly, his expression stiffening.
He tried to counter the devouring, only to et unimaginable resistance.
Panicking, he attempted to repel it—but failed.
Without hesitation, he severed his own arm. Yet the mont he thought he was safe, the heart erupted with even more tendrils, instantly ensnaring his entire body.
He could feel everything he was being consud by the other.
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