The Ancient God's Fist and the Sacred Lion Cloak

Rosen fused his spirituality with his newfound vitality, transforming ordinary psychic energy into spiritual psychic energy.

The greatest advantage of spiritual psychic energy was that it required no adaptation period—it could be controlled effortlessly, flowing as naturally as one's thoughts.

However, the sudden surge in his vitality was overwhelming, to the point that even his spirituality struggled to fully harness it.

While clashing against the Elephantskin demigod's twin war hammers, Rosen began channeling his excess vitality into his Gluttony Psychic Beast. In no time, the Gluttony Psychic Beast within his mindscape had grown into a colossal entity over a thousand meters tall.

But even this enormous beast couldn't handle the influx of energy and began to overeat. To cope, it started producing golden apples using the excess psychic energy.

The energy was so potent that the golden apples manifested into reality, and to Rosen's surprise, they took root in his mindscape and began to grow. The apples soon sprouted into a Sequence 3 Golden Apple Tree. What had once been a simple psychic ability to produce golden apples had now evolved into the manifestation of a full-fledged Golden Apple Tree.

Despite this, Rosen's surplus psychic energy showed no signs of diminishing. He continued using it to enhance his God-Hunting Evil Eye, God-Slaying Crossbow, and Seven Deadly Sins Demon Seeds.

The God-Slaying Crossbow had long been integrated with Dragon King's Wrath, so enhancing the crossbow naturally strengthened the Dragon King's Wrath as well.

Under normal circumstances, the Sequence 4 Dragon King's Wrath would have required the hunting of numerous draconic beasts to evolve to Sequence 3. Yet, thanks to the extraordinary power of the psychic energy, it directly broke through to Sequence 3—defying all conventional expectations.

Rosen realized the reason for this: Could the vitality of draconic beasts ever compare to the life force of the Ancient God's Divine Body?

Clearly, it couldn't. The Ancient God Sequence, which governed the World Gene Library, could even transform its genetic structure into that of a dragon, effectively becoming one. For Dragon King's Wrath, the vitality of the Ancient God's Divine Body was undoubtedly a superior evolutionary material.

To ensure the evolution of the Dragon King's Wrath, Rosen even began slowly infusing it with his own Ancient God bloodline.

However, this delayed the weapon's evolution, making it unlikely for Rosen to use the Dragon King's Wrath in the upcoming battles.

Rosen then redirected his remaining psychic energy into the Seven Deadly Sins Demon Seeds, causing the seeds to evolve and gain new abilities.

Previously, the demon seeds could only parasitize their targets and absorb the power of the Seven Deadly Sins. Now, once a demon seed had absorbed enough of the Seven Deadly Sins, it could manifest as a humanoid Seven Deadly Sins Psychic Beast. Each of these beasts, once fully powered, would possess combat strength comparable to that of a typical Sequence 3.

Furthermore, the Seven Deadly Sins Psychic Beasts specialized not in physical damage but in spiritual damage through curses derived from the sins.

The voracious appetites of the Seven Deadly Sins Psychic Beasts finally stabilized the overwhelming vitality coursing through Rosen.

The ocean-like spiritual psychic energy surged out of his body, forming a flowing layer of black flames that enveloped him.

In an instant, most of the black flames dissipated, as 90% of the energy concentrated into his right fist.

Rosen transformed the spiritual psychic energy into reinforcement-type energy, then unleashed a punch straight at the Elephantskin demigod's hammer.

The hammer didn't shatter—it was a Sequence 2 extraordinary artifact of the highest quality.

However, the force of the impact caused the hammer to rebound violently out of the demigod's hands. The spiritual psychic energy condensed in Rosen's fist, destabilized by the collision, exploded uncontrollably.

The resulting shockwave was more terrifying than a nuclear explosion, and a black sun erupted, engulfing the surrounding thousand kilometers in darkness.

Even Rosen hadn't anticipated that a single punch of his would unleash such catastrophic power.

Reacting quickly, he expanded the Void Shadow Realm, attempting to contain the black sun as much as possible. Despite his efforts, the Void Shadow Realm couldn't fully absorb the damage, and residual energy waves blanketed the thousand-kilometer radius in impenetrable darkness.

When the darkness finally dissipated—or rather, when the Seven Deadly Sins Psychic Beasts consumed the negative psychic energy saturating the air—Rosen saw the Elephantskin demigod lying in a crater dozens of miles away.

The demigod wasn't dead—beings of his caliber had countless life-saving measures—but he was grievously injured. Large portions of his body had been corroded by the power of Gluttony, with wounds so deep that his bones were visible.

While the injuries themselves weren't fatal, the demigod's mental state had completely collapsed.

How could he not recognize the terrifying truth? The human he had been fighting had relied solely on his physical body to engage him in combat. To inflict such injuries on him using sheer physical strength, the human must have already ascended to the legendary forbidden level—a monstrous existence.

As he lay in the crater, the Elephantskin demigod had tried every possible means of escape.

He had attempted to contact the Elephantskin deity, but the connection had failed.

He had tried to tear through the spatial barrier to return to the Sacred Lion spiritual realm, but that, too, had failed.

Even his desperate attempts to inflict a decisive injury on the human had proven futile.

The human's regenerative ability was nothing short of horrifying—he could regrow a severed head in mere moments.

Every plan, every effort to retaliate, had ended in failure. All that remained was despair. For a seasoned veteran who had clawed his way to becoming a titled demigod after thousands of life-and-death battles, it was unthinkable for his resolve to crumble so completely.

Yet, the true cause of his mental collapse wasn't just despair.

Psychic energy was normally colorless and transparent, but Rosen's psychic energy was black because it was infused with the power of the Seven Deadly Sins.

When the Elephantskin demigod was struck by Rosen's psychic-infused punch, the Seven Deadly Sins' power seeped into his body and divine essence.

Though the sins themselves didn't include despair, they were all manifestations of negative emotions. The overwhelming flood of these emotions amplified the demigod's own negativity, driving his mental state to the breaking point.

Rosen blinked to the edge of the crater, summoning the Void Gallery with a single thought.

A skull engulfed in blood flames opened its mouth, revealing a picture frame within. Inside the frame was the painted Void Divine Prison spiritual realm.

As the painting shrank into a tiny dot, it locked onto the Elephantskin demigod and unleashed a terrifying spatial suction force.

The demigod didn't resist. Still lost in despair, he allowed himself to be drawn into the Void Divine Prison.

As Rosen reveled in the surge of power from his strengthened abilities, he suddenly felt two intense glares filled with resentment.

Turning around, he found the two little wood sprites, Mona and Molly, staring at him angrily, their cheeks puffed up in indignation.

Looking around at the devastated battlefield, the scorched ground beneath the World Tree, and the absence of the lush grass and green trees that had once flourished here, Rosen quickly realized why the two were so upset.

He hadn't intended to fight here. However, he was concerned that the Elephantskin demigod might have had a means to contact the Elephantskin deity, so he had chosen the World Tree's vicinity as the battleground.

The environment around the World Tree was ideal for awakening the Ancient God's Divine Body. As the source of all life, the World Tree greatly enhanced the efficiency of bloodline awakening for any being in its vicinity.

Thanks to living near the World Tree for so many years, the wood sprites had significantly grown in their bloodline abilities.

To soothe the two angry sprites, Rosen promised to paint more Nature Sprites to help them grow trees in the future. Only then did he manage to calm them down and focus his thoughts on analyzing the changes in his body after the awakening of the Ancient God's Divine Body.

His skyrocketing vitality was already apparent, as was his immensely strengthened physique. Despite being engulfed in the same shockwave that had left the Elephantskin demigod's body severely wounded—bones exposed through corroded flesh—Rosen himself was unscathed. The only thing he had lost was his clothing.

Beyond this, all his physical abilities had been enhanced.

His basic five senses had improved dramatically, but the most significant change was the emergence of a unique ability tied to his Ancient God's Divine Body.

With a thought, Rosen transformed into an Abyssal Demon. In the next moment, he morphed into a Vampire. Then, in another instant, he became an Angel. Finally, he shifted into the form of a Nature Sprite, leaving Mona and Molly watching in stunned silence.

Mona's reaction was especially dramatic. As if struck by a horrifying realization, she covered her collar with both hands and stared at Rosen in fear.

She couldn't help but recall the times she had secretly witnessed Rosen teasing Alicia to the point of tears. She had tried to intervene before, only to be promptly subdued. Over time, she had grown used to it and even comforted herself with the thought that she was small enough to escape Rosen's mischief.

But now Rosen had transformed into a being as small as she was. Remembering Alicia's tearful face, Mona suddenly felt her future turn bleak. Resigned to her fate, she began unbuttoning her clothes with trembling hands, tears welling in her eyes.

When Rosen turned and saw Mona's dramatic reaction, his face darkened. With an annoyed sigh, he reverted to his human form and casually distorted space to teleport Mona and Molly back to the World Tree.

He had no interest in dealing with Mona's antics right now. His attention was fully focused on the changes brought by the awakening of the Ancient God's Divine Body.

Previously, using the World Gene Library, Rosen could adjust his genetic blueprint to mimic other species. However, this transformation process had been slow and superficial, affecting only his external traits without altering his core bloodline.

The main issue had been that while it was easy to transform the Ancient God Bloodline into another race's bloodline, reverting it back was exceedingly difficult.

Now, however, the Ancient God Bloodline could freely switch into the core bloodline of any flesh-based race. This meant Rosen could fully acquire the bloodline abilities of any race he transformed into.

To test this, Rosen transformed into a Frenzied Lion and immediately gained their signature bloodline ability—the stronger their arrogance, the more powerful they became.

When it came to arrogance, Rosen had a clear advantage.

With his Soul of Pride and the vast amount of pride absorbed by the Seven Deadly Sins Demon Seeds, he could feel his strength being enhanced even further. At this point, Rosen realized that even if he transformed into Domnar for combat, he no longer needed to worry about his identity being exposed.

Rosen returned to the Sacred Lion spiritual realm, which was now in ruins after the ongoing battles.

The Two-Dimensional Ash Wasp and the Metallic Slime were performing exceptionally well, with one focused on offense and the other on defense. They were holding their own against two Sequence 3 Sacred Lions and had even gained the upper hand. The two Sacred Lions were already riddled with stingers, resembling living pincushions.

Though they had not lost their ability to fight, they owed their resilience to their racial trait, which granted immunity to almost all negative states. This significantly weakened the effects of True Pain, one of the Ash Wasp's most devastating abilities.

However, even the Sacred Lions' immunity had its limits. As the True Stingers continued to accumulate, the strain on their bodies was becoming unbearable.

When the two Sacred Lions saw Rosen return and noticed that the Elephantskin demigod was nowhere to be found, they immediately realized the battle was likely lost.

The Elephantskin demigod's defeat had given the Frenzied Lions a crucial numerical advantage, and the outcome of the war was now inevitable.

In accordance with the agreement set by the Elephantskin demigod, the defeated side would occupy 40% of the spiritual realm, while the victors would claim 60%. This arrangement aimed to minimize resource consumption, as the revival of each Sequence 3 individual drained significant energy from the realm.

With no half-god casualties, the spiritual realm's reset costs would be dramatically reduced.

However, before the Sacred Lions could surrender, Rosen had already begun his final assault.

Their immunity to negative states might be impressive, but could they resist positive states?

Rosen unleashed the Greed Psychic Beast, Envy Psychic Beast, and Wrath Psychic Beast from the Seven Deadly Sins Demon Seeds. Simultaneously, he activated the divine authority curses derived from the Seven Deadly Sins, forcibly draining the Sacred Lions of their greed, envy, and anger.

Emotions are a delicate balance—too much is harmful, but so is too little.

The excessive reduction of greed triggered the emergence of generosity, a positive emotion.

The suppression of envy sparked a surge of compassion and tolerance.

The loss of anger gave rise to an overwhelming sense of calm and gentleness.

Generosity, compassion, and gentleness—these positive emotions were beyond the Sacred Lions' immunity capabilities.

But positive emotions, when taken to the extreme, could also become a liability.

Excessive gentleness could result in smiling acceptance, even when being slapped in the face.

Overwhelming tolerance might lead to forgiving a wife who ran off with the neighbor.

And unrestrained generosity could go so far as to gift one's beloved wife to a close friend.

The two Sacred Lions, now under the influence of Rosen's curses, were in a pitiful state. Even as Rosen landed bone-crushing punches, snapping tendons and breaking bones, they kept pleading, "Please, no more!"

Even when their arms were severed by the Twin Daggers, they simply endured, retreating with no intent to counterattack.

For the Seven Deadly Sins to achieve this level of dominance would normally require being at least one Sequence higher than the target. A Sequence 2 Seven Deadly Sins Demon God might be able to toy with two Sequence 3 Sacred Lions this way.

Rosen's success was largely thanks to his combination of methods.

He had projected his Ashen Curtain into the Sacred Lions' consciousness, synergizing it with a Seven Deadly Sins Manifestation and unleashing Seven Sins Curses simultaneously.

Adding to this, the True Stingers of the Two-Dimensional Ash Wasps continuously penetrated the Sacred Lions' bodies. While the Sacred Lions' immunity to negative effects negated much of the damage, their immunity ability consumed divine essence with each use. As a result, their divine essence was severely weakened, leaving them unable to resist Rosen's double-layered positive curses.

Rosen had no intention of capturing the two Sacred Lions alive—it wasn't that simple.

Transporting unintelligent extraordinary creatures out of a spiritual realm was manageable, but permanently removing intelligent extraordinary beings required complete control over the realm, which Rosen didn't have.

Thus, Rosen decisively decapitated the Sacred Lions and used the God-Hunting Evil Eye to erase their divine essence origins.

To his surprise, only one Sacred Lion corpse was left intact, while two loot orbs materialized in the scavenging space.

Since gaining the ability to hunt Sequence 3 creatures, Rosen had noticed a significant decline in the number of loot orbs he obtained.

The reason was simple: the creation of loot orbs was tied to the Hunting Authority of the Hunter Sequence.

However, this authority was a borrowed power. Very few hunters possessed true mastery over the Hunting Authority because it was already controlled by a true god—the God of the Hunt. Without this deity's permission, it was nearly impossible for others to fully wield the Hunting Authority.

For targets below Sequence 3, the Hunting Authority could easily convert prey into loot orbs.

But starting from Sequence 3, it became increasingly difficult, as Sequence 3 beings wield their own divine authorities. To transform a defeated Sequence 3 into a loot orb, the Hunting Authority had to overpower the target's divine authority—a feat that was rarely achievable.

Rosen casually crushed the two loot orbs.

One contained extraordinary Sacred Lion bloodline.

The other was an extraordinary source-based item.

[Source-Based Item: Sacred Lion Cloak]

Grade: Sequence 3 (Evolution Progress: 0%)

Attributes: +70% base defense, 70% immunity to basic damage.

Source Traits:

Sacred Light Lionheart: Converts vitality into sacred battle aura.

Lightwalker: Enables movement by transforming the body into light.

Holy Battlecry: Dispels negative effects and grants large-scale positive buffs.

Sacred Light Shield: Purely defensive ability.

Holy Critical Strike: Amplifies damage by fivefold.

Holy Resurrection: Allows resurrection if divine essence remains.

Holy Evolution: Absorbs similar extraordinary source material to evolve.

Rosen immediately extracted the extraordinary source material from the second Sacred Lion corpse and infused it into the Sacred Lion Cloak, increasing its evolution progress to 10%. This meant he would need to kill the remaining four Sacred Lions to evolve it further—unless he could reset the Sacred Lion spiritual realm in the future.

Rosen had already made up his mind to claim a piece of this spiritual realm.

Even if it meant offending two Sequence 0 deities, he wasn't afraid. He didn't hesitate to antagonize humanity's Sequence 0s, let alone two non-human Sequence 0s. With careful planning and discretion, he might even avoid being discovered, slipping into the realm unnoticed.

Wearing the pure white Sacred Lion Cloak, Rosen felt the soft, thin layer of Sacred Lion fur on its surface.

With this cloak, he no longer needed to worry about being half-naked after a battle while fighting up close with his Ancient God's Divine Body.

Maintaining his Domnar disguise, Rosen glanced at the distant Momella Mountain before turning to leave.

According to his original plan, he had intended to mine the Momella Stones destructively.

But now, that was no longer feasible—he needed to hunt more Sacred Lions to further evolve his Sacred Lion Cloak. At most, he could secretly pocket a few Momella Stones. If he raised the suspicions of the two deities overseeing the realm, hunting Sacred Lions would become far more difficult. If the realm they were entrusted to protect was infiltrated by a human, they might prefer to destroy it entirely to preserve their dignity.

While Rosen celebrated his overwhelming victory, the battle between the four remaining Sacred Lions and the Frenzied Lions raged on fiercely.

Overall, the Sacred Lions' defeat was merely a matter of time.

Rosen had given the Lionheart War Drum to the Frenzied Lion demigods. With the drum's Sequence 3 enhancements, the Frenzied Lions' combat strength had doubled. Under these circumstances, had both sides not been holding back, the four Sacred Lions would likely already have perished.

However, the Sacred Lions had now completely lost their restraint.

The Sacred Lion spiritual realm was small, and it didn't take long for the remaining Sacred Lions to notice that two of their kind had already been slain. Ignoring the Elephantskin demigod's orders, the four were now consumed by desperation. With their backs against the wall, they sought to take as many of their enemies down with them as possible.

Rosen, utilizing his Soul of Pride and the Frenzied Lion bloodline's innate ability to grow stronger through arrogance, pushed his power to its absolute limit.

Without hesitation, he activated the two skills he had stolen from Domnar using the Hands of Greed. Using the Berserk Will skill, he further enhanced his damage, and with Savage Claws, he maximized the destructive power of his attacks.

He lunged directly at the most severely wounded Sacred Lion.

In less than thirty minutes, with the help of the Frenzied Lion demigods, Rosen had slain all four Sacred Lions.

He personally landed the finishing blow on each one but did not receive any more loot orbs.

However, the evolution progress of his Sacred Lion Cloak had reached 50%, and he had also acquired the intact corpses of the four Sacred Lions.

Covered in blood from head to toe, Rosen turned to find the surviving Frenzied Lion demigods gazing at him with newfound reverence.

(Chapter End)