Chapter 155 – Rule Addition

When the match ended in a draw, the circles beneath Hwanin and Amaterasu, who had reappeared in the spectator seats, had vanished.

Bzzzt.

Just like when Dice was expelled, the circles of the Divine Spirits who still had circles grew larger.

It seemed the Sun Fragments of the two Divine Spirits had been distributed equally.

Thus, the third duel concluded, but the next duel did not immediately follow.

This was because all the matches that had been arranged through mutual selection at the beginning were now finished.

[Choose your desired opponent.]

The selection period to choose opponents had arrived once again.

But something felt strange.

“This should be sufficient. You lot, offer your Suns to me.”

Luke Meyer muttered in a meaningful tone before issuing an Order to the surrounding Divine Spirits.

“I forfeit.”

“I forfeit.”

“Forfeit.”

The Divine Spirits who had not yet fought all spoke of forfeiting, transferring the share of the Sun Authority they had Grasped to Luke Meyer.

[Warning! Unauthorized access!]

However, since forfeiting was not originally a permitted action in Apostle Duels, the will of the Sun Constellation issued a warning, just as it had with Dice.

But Luke Meyer declared calmly even before the warning.

“No, I have the qualification.”

An intangible Grasp emanating from him began to influence the will of the Sun Constellation.

“With the qualification of an Apostle, I shall add a forfeit victory condition.”

[Zzzzt— Apostle qualification confirmed… Adding condition for victory by forfeit.]

The coercion possible because he was once an Apostle deceived the will of the Sun Constellation.

Whoosh!

As the circles beneath the Divine Spirits on Luke Meyer’s side vanished one by two, Luke Meyer’s circle grew larger and larger.

The circle beneath his feet widened enough to comfortably accommodate all the Divine Spirits around him.

An aura, already half-indistinguishable from that of an Apostle, flowed from Luke Meyer.

[“The duels end here. What begins now will not be a duel, but an execution.”]

By now, the will of the Sun Constellation was also half-assimilated with Luke Meyer.

“Luke Meyer! You bastard! Are you ruining the Apostle Duel with this kind of trick again?”

Perhaps reminded of the past Apostle Duel where Hwanin had lost due to Luke Meyer’s schemes, Park Jincheol suddenly flared up and shouted.

If the Apostle Decisive Battle had proceeded normally, everyone’s win counts would have been similar.

But as a result of Luke Meyer skimming off the achievements without fighting like this, the gap between them had become stark.

If this continued, as he said, the upcoming matches could no longer be called duels.

“Calm down, Jincheol. To face him, we must also gather our strength into one.”

“Ah…!”

Pheidippides grabbed Park Jincheol, who, swayed by emotion, was about to designate Luke Meyer as his opponent.

Park Jincheol barely controlled his emotions and rotated the pointer of the circle beneath his feet, which had been about to stop towards Luke Meyer, again.

However, unable to completely shake off his emotions, he glared at Luke Meyer with bloodshot eyes.

“So, how do we gather our strength?”

“It seems he hasn’t become a complete Apostle yet, so we still have a chance.”

If Luke Meyer had completely Grasped the will of the Sun Constellation, there would have been no need to maintain the dueling arena.

Ultimately, what he did was merely add a new rule to the duel; the framework of the duel itself had not disappeared.

“Are you suggesting we also forfeit and concentrate the share of Sun Authority onto one person among ourselves?”

“At least that would make resistance possible, wouldn’t it?”

“Even so, wouldn’t it be insufficient?”

Excluding Ares, Ra-Horakhty, and Amaterasu, who had already lost, there were ten Divine Spirits who had forfeited to Luke Meyer.

But the allied Divine Spirits not tainted by Chaos were only three: Park Jincheol, Mirkala, and Pheidippides, excluding Dice and Hwanin.

There were also a few neutral Divine Spirits who belonged to neither side, but even adding them all together, they wouldn’t reach ten.

“My Authority, the World Tree, can draw power not only from the Divine Spirits within the Sun but also from the stars outside the Sun.”

“What help can those who haven’t even obtained Divine Rank be… The fight against that bastard Luke is no longer a simple fight.”

“I know. The core must be competing for the share of Sun Authority.”

When Pheidippides hit the core, Park Jincheol’s gaze turned serious.

“Do you have some method?”

“Even stars that haven’t ascended to Divine Rank, if many gather, can achieve unification—that is, Authority Bloom—to reach True God Rank.”

“Ah!”

“The problem is this method isn’t something only we can use. With Luke Meyer’s [All for One], he could likely draw Starlight from stars outside the Sun, just like the [World Tree].”

“We must hurry.”

Saying so, Park Jincheol, who had been moving his lips slightly for a moment, seemed to decide something, nodded, and opened his mouth.

“I, Park Jincheol, forfeit to Pheidippides.”

Bzzz—

Park Jincheol, who had likely waited years in the drifting Otherworld for a rematch with Luke Meyer, entrusted his back to Pheidippides.

Pheidippides, receiving the Sun Fragment Park Jincheol held, gave him a slight bow of greeting, then looked at Mirkala next.

“You heard the situation from nearby, young lady. The Herald of the Sun who saved you was Thou, so here I shall follow Thy will.”

Bzzz—

Mirkala forfeited immediately without needing much persuasion, transferring the Sun she had Grasped to Pheidippides.

“Thank you.”

Pheidippides, having received the fragments of Sun Authority from the two Divine Spirits who could be considered definite allies, now turned his gaze towards the remaining Divine Spirits.

“What will you do? Will you lose to Luke like this and become his subordinates again? Or will you entrust the future to me?”

“Seems the same to us either way. What changes if we choose you? Only the master changes; the fact that we can’t become Apostles remains the same.”

Someone asked, representing the neutral Divine Spirits.

Pheidippides answered.

“It is different. Under Luke Meyer’s All for One, you will all become mere stepping stones for that bastard alone. But within my World Tree, which serves Primordial Chaos, we can become one and extend branches anywhere.”

“What does that mean? Extending branches?”

“You have also obtained Divine Rank and connected to the Providence of the world, so you should know. The world is not one.”

Mentioning the existence of countless Parallel Worlds and the Multiverse, a hopeful expression appeared on the faces of the neutral Divine Spirits.

“Even if your potential fails to fully Bloom in this universe, in some universe, you could become an Apostle. If you choose me, you can become the branch extending to that universe.”

“Alright, I’ll trust you once.”

“Then, win.”

“I forfeit to Pheidippides.”

Bzzzz—

The forfeits of the completely persuaded neutral Divine Spirits followed.

Thanks to this, the level of Sun Authority Pheidippides possessed reached the minimum he had aimed for.

Whoosh!

Recalling the moment Dice had approached Sun Authority and the coercion Luke Meyer had employed when adding the forfeit rule, Pheidippides extended the roots of the World Tree towards the Sun.

Thud.

And he declared.

“I propose, with the qualification of a future Apostle, to add a cheering rule.”

[Zzzzt… Apostle authority confirmed. Cheering from external sources is now permitted.]

As the will of the Sun Constellation, not yet fully taken over by Luke Meyer, assimilated with Pheidippides.

Swoosh—!

Now that it was permitted by the rules, the branches of the World Tree openly extended countless times outside the Sun.

As mentioned earlier, the plan was to link with stars below True God rank belonging to the Sun Constellation, bundle eleven of their stars each to Bloom their Authority, and secure a scale to confront Luke Meyer.

[“A cheering battle. Interesting. Your World Tree and my All for One. It will be proven which is superior.”]

A step later, Luke also deployed the Authority of All for One, spreading his influence towards the stars outside the Sun.

Now, the scope of the duel expanded beyond simply the dueling arena inside the Sun to the entire Star Constellation’s True Body.

And the moment not a single star was left unbound by either Pheidippides’s World Tree or Luke Meyer’s All for One.

Click!

Finally, within the two remaining circles beneath only Luke Meyer and Pheidippides, the rotating pointers fixed, pointing at each other.

[“Let the final duel begin!”]

It was the beginning of the final duel to decide the Apostle of the Sun Constellation.

* * *

KWA-GWA-GWA-GWA-GWA-GWA-GWA-GWANG!

The duel between Luke and Pheidippides had surpassed the limits of the existing Apostle Duel, which was restricted to the 11th Star.

[Solar Barge] of Ra-Horakhty, [War] of Ares, [Great Sun Tathagata Divine Light] of Amaterasu Omikami, [Fire Calamity] of Kagutsuchi, [Fire Heaven] of Agni, and more.

Luke Meyer wielded Sun Authority as if he were already an Apostle, pouring forth the Authorities of other Divine Spirits dominated by his All for One.

[Solar Wind] of Park Jincheol, [Trāyastriṃśa Heaven] of Hwanin Jeseok, [Ten Thousand Thunder Sword] of Dice Ten, [Solar Blood] of Mirkala, [War] of Chi You Cheonhwang, and more.

In response, Pheidippides also wielded Sun Authority, pouring forth the Authorities of other Divine Spirits linked through the World Tree and Authorities temporarily Bloomed by unifying eleven stars, like Chi You Cheonhwang.

[“You’re holding up quite well. But how long will that last?”]

[“……”]

The dueling arena, swept by explosions, roars, flashes, heat, madness, and weapons, was already devastated.

Physical and spiritual destructive forces raged, Annihilating the True Bodies of Luke Meyer and Pheidippides several times over, but to them, that level of damage could no longer be called damage.

Their life force, deeply connected to Sun Authority, was immortal.

Since they Regenerated immediately each time they were Annihilated, victory could not be obtained through death.

[“No time to answer? Well, it doesn’t matter.”]

[“……?”]

[“The experience of wielding Constellation Authority like this right now is making me even stronger!”]

Hundreds of Authorities overlapped, amplifying their power, with more comprehensive conceptual Authorities commanding subordinate conceptual Authorities in a linked manner.

Against the backdrop of the vast universe, the sight of them clashing while harmonizing was quite beautiful.

To handle that many Authorities, one’s perspective inevitably broadened, so from a macroscopic viewpoint, the collision of these countless Authorities looked like nothing more than a spectacular fireworks display.

Lee Hanseong, observing the battle situation from within Pheidippides, could see the unfolding situation better than the parties involved.

‘If this continues, Pheidippides absolutely cannot win.’

His overall capability was clearly lacking compared to Luke Meyer.

It wasn’t a gap large enough to be overwhelmed in an instant, but neither was it narrow enough to create a chance for a comeback.

‘Dragging out time is the best option.’

A stalemate continued, with Authorities being captured one by one, shares being taken and retaken.

When a Bloomed Authority achieved through unification was captured, they managed to hold on by changing combinations centered on other stars to Bloom new Authorities.

But overall, the trend was that Pheidippides’s Authorities were being captured more quickly.

[“Still not giving up? You must know by now that you cannot win, right?”]

As Luke Meyer said, barring a variable, defeat was unavoidable.

Yet, Pheidippides showed no sign of fear or intention to give up.

[“Alright, let’s go all the way. The longer you hold on, the more proficient I’ll become with Constellation Authority, which is exactly what I hoped for.”]

Luke Meyer was pleased with Pheidippides’s attitude, but inwardly, he didn’t let his guard down, thinking Pheidippides might have a hidden card to turn the situation around.

In fact, his thought was correct.

Pheidippides had something he believed in.

‘Keep Luke Meyer occupied as much as possible like this. Once my other half completes the Historical Alteration and perfects the Authority, a variable will surely arise.’

The other half of Lee Hanseong left in the reality where time had stopped.

That was the variable that would lead to Pheidippides’s victory.

While the Apostle Decisive Battle took place inside the Star Constellation’s True Body, the half left in reality had entered the sixth Historical Alteration, which had been interrupted by Luke Meyer’s intrusion.