Three immensely powerful Ancient Gods.

Once awakened, they would all be truly powerful Ancient Gods.

They could effortlessly kill a Middle Rank God like Zorn.

But in their dormant states, each had its own vulnerabilities.

Take this Ancient God from thirty-two million years ago, for example.

His incarnation was an actual Material Plane.

Even other Ancient Gods would find it difficult to destroy him in this form.

Unfortunately for the god, Zorn wielded a method as powerful as the Cosmic Altar, which could not only imprison this Material Plane but also slowly offer it up as a sacrifice.

Without the Cosmic Altar, Zorn would have needed to resort to other means. But he did have the Cosmic Altar.

He could simply lock it down using the Cosmic Altar’s cage, completing the imprisonment.

After all, it currently lacked the power to resist.

After that, Zorn just had to sacrifice it slowly over time.

Sacrificing an Ancient God.

This would be the key to Zorn’s power skyrocketing.

One after another, black sacrificial chains passed through the Divine Kingdom Passage, continuously anchoring themselves to the white Material Plane of the Ancient Heroic Spirit.

Before long, the Cosmic Altar had arrived in the ancient river of time, thirty million years in the past.

Then, under the power of the Cosmic Altar, the entire Material Plane slowly began to be constrained and imprisoned.

Once the Cosmic Altar completely imprisoned the Material Plane that the Ancient God had transformed into, even if that powerful Ancient God were to awaken, it would be unable to break free from the altar’s terrifying cage.

Of course, the more likely scenario was that the Ancient God would be silently melted down while still in its Material Plane form.

It would die completely, slumbering in the depths of ancient time.

This would be its fate.

After nearly half a year of being scoured by the currents of time...

...the Cosmic Altar finally completed the total imprisonment of the Material Plane that served as the Ancient God’s incarnation.

The entire Plane had been drawn into the Altar.

"Phew..."

Only then did Zorn finally let out a long sigh of relief.

’The first Ancient God is taken care of. Now for the second one.’

The second Ancient God was far trickier than the first.

But with a bit more time and a combination of other methods, it too could be handled.

As Zorn once again crossed several massive Time Waves, each spanning millions of years, he suddenly felt a stir in his mind.

The projection he had left in his Divine Kingdom sensed someone calling out to him.

’Did something happen back in the Black Star Divine Kingdom?’

With a single thought, he immediately began to race back to his original timeline.

Moving forward in time was extremely difficult.

Returning, however, was comparatively simple.

Before long, Zorn had returned to the Calamity Divine Kingdom.

The Female Sword God, Abigail, was currently waiting outside his Divine Kingdom.

Zorn first took a moment to carefully perceive the flow of time.

’A year and a half has already passed during this journey through time, and I barely noticed.’

’It felt like only a moment had gone by.’

’But that’s just how the currents of ancient time work.’

’It’s difficult to get an accurate grasp on the passage of time.’

He then looked toward the area outside the Black Star Divine Kingdom.

A battle was taking place outside the Black Star Divine Kingdom, in the zone between the two opposing Trees of the Magic Ring.

However, it was merely a spar between two Middle Rank Gods.

No large-scale battle had broken out.

The Black Star territory was as stable as ever.

"What is it? Did something happen?"

Zorn flew out from his Steam Castle.

Abigail sized Zorn up, her expression puzzled.

"You went on a journey through time?"

"Yes."

Zorn didn’t try to hide it.

A considerable amount of thick Ancient Time Essence had settled upon him.

Journeys into ancient time allowed him to advance more quickly.

This was something that Time-elemental Divine Spirits often did.

"Lord Ossirion has made a breakthrough," Abigail said bluntly after looking him over.

’A breakthrough?’ Zorn couldn’t help but feel a surge of joy at the news.

Lord Ossirion had been in seclusion for over thirty years.

Now, at last, he had broken through.

And with that breakthrough, he was now an Upper Rank God.

In a war between Divine Kingdoms, that made him a top-tier powerhouse.

Abigail’s expression grew serious as she continued.

"With Lord Ossirion’s breakthrough, the Black Star Divine Kingdom is about to launch a series of counteroffensives."

"And our mission has arrived."

Zorn’s heart trembled slightly at her words.

The opportunity to besiege the fallen Ancient God Divine Kingdom had finally come.

Zorn had been waiting for this war for a very, very long time.

Within the Divine Kingdom of that fallen Ancient God were many hidden corners, and all of them contained treasures.

Combined with his gradual sacrifice of those three Ancient Gods and the plundering of the fallen Ancient God Divine Kingdom, this would be the perfect ladder for Zorn to ascend to Upper Rank God and climb toward the level of an Ancient God.

"We’re both at the level of Middle Rank Gods now, and we’re not weak, even among our peers."

"That makes us a key part of the main force for the assault on the Ancient God Divine Kingdom."

"Lord Ossirion has summoned us this time specifically to assign us our mission."

"We should hurry over!"

"Right."

Zorn immediately rose and flew off with Abigail, heading toward Lord Ossirion’s location.

...

「Inside the majestic Stone Hall.」

No fewer than five or six Upper Rank Gods and over thirty Middle Rank Gods were gathered here.

A crucial war council was underway.

Although several other senior Upper Rank Gods were present, Lord Ossirion was the one presiding over the meeting.

"Everyone!"