GREED: ALL FOR WHAT?

But things didn't go their way. It hasn't been going their way for a while now so they should be used to the disappointment but they aren't. It stings every time because they have a lot invested in this.

Ode had instructed the worm to go for the army. There was no need to chase Soverick. If Soverick cared about his soldiers then he will come to the worm and try to stop it. The thing about impromptu plans is that they usually look good and foolproof in your mind, but execution will show them to be ugly and full of holes. They didn't have to wait for long to see the errors of their way. They knew it was a bad idea pretty quickly.

The first problem they noted was that the worm was slow. Still, they had hope that its strength would be able to do Soverick in. If Soverick decides to protect his soldiers then he will make himself a slower target. Protection is much more difficult than attacking. When they coupled it with the might of the soul attack of the worm and its beam attack, the worm should still be able to put Soverick down.

The next thing that went wrong is that Soverick didn't seem bothered by the Soul attack. Even when the worm concentrated its full effort on Soverick, the aberrant wasn't keeling over as they had expected. He was also able to block the beam attack, which was inconceivable. How can a vitality core refiner block that? He is supposed to be roasted and burned away by that energy beam.

But that didn't happen. The worm wasn't a threat to him. He even had the leisure to admire and criticize the worm. While the soldiers of his army were stumbling and struggling from the splash effect of the soul attack, the one that faced the brunt of it could still curse the gods.

He called them. "Foolish gods."

They heard it the first time but he said it a second time.

He even shouted it to the sky. "Did you hear me? I called you foolish. You gods are foolish."

"What did I expect from a desperate action?"

Yes, they were desperate. But to be called so by a mortal should have angered them. Yet, they weren't angered. They felt dread instead. That emotion only increased when they saw how he dealt with the worm. It is one thing to see Soverick bully the weak. To see him trash a gigantic worm about, despite the difference in their size, drilled the point into their head. He is a freak of nature.

"He is perfect." Ode said.

The others could only agree wordlessly. Soverick was fast, he was strong, he is skillful and his mind was hard as steel. He was unstoppable in body and mind. They felt better that it isn't an ordinary mortal that called them desperate.

No matter how admirable he is, he is their enemy and a tough one too. Their only hope to stop him lay in him entering the middle stage and being killed by a mana entity.

The gods expected them to rest a while before entering the middle stage as an army. Only to be disoriented, confused, and easily dispatched by a superior opponent. But things didn't go their way.

The army wasn't rushing to the door as they expected. They celebrated and dispersed. Then some of them began to break through and vanish. There was no panic, not even when thousands of them broke through. There is only a single explanation for their behavior.

"They know. How long have they known?" Ode asked but no one answered.

So he asked himself. 'How much do they know?'

This understanding explained a lot of their behavior. Somehow the main plane got information about the layout and mechanism of the divine dungeon. They planned and crafted the perfect killing machine which they then sent into the dungeon. Ode felt enlightened and also afraid. What is the full extent of their knowledge? How far had the main plane planned with that knowledge?

His fear started to increase when he saw Soverick start to approach the door to the second stage. If someone had told him that a vitality core stage refiner is going to brave the middle stage where he will fight against mana entities, he would have called it ludicrous. But now, he felt fear. The other celestials did not agree with him. They cheered happily when he entered the middle stage.

"Isn't this good? He will surely die in there."

"Does he think he can face the gods?"

If Ode were to answer that, he would say yes. The opponents in the middle stage were past gods. Their power has been shrunk down to the mana entity stage. Do they have the advantage of strength over Soverick? He would answer in the negative. No, they don't. They are equal at best. Do they have the advantage of skill over Soverick? Maybe, it is highly variable.

Soverick's display of strength is enough for the educated to know that he has a very good grasp on momentum. So he has to have achieved the first step of mastery which is not a surprise considering that Soverick is the perfect tool created by the Main plane to trounce them. Does he have the second step of spear mastery? Highly unlikely, but not impossible. Soverick had already displayed feats of strength that should be impossible, so why not feats of skill?

Which leaves only the third step. There are only a few of the gods who can display such a level of mastery. Not all gods are battle or weapon oriented. Most of the battle and weapon oriented have died in the wars.

The only ones alive of significance are the celestial gods here. He had made sure that only the grand gods oriented with battle, weapons, and power became celestial gods. That means Soverick's passage through the middle stage would be difficult but possible depending on what he has up his sleeve.