Chapter 92: Ending the Age of Gods (2.4K)

With the body of a mere mortal, they defied the gods.

Facing the lofty deities, Nameless, Shikotei, and all the soldiers were like moths flying toward the flame, seemingly fragile and vulnerable.

But now, with that one sword strike, even the exalted gods turned pale.

With one slash, the skies cleared for humanity once more.

The previously suffocating atmosphere shattered with this sword, and countless spectators burst into cheers.

…

In the video.

The sword strike tore apart the lightning storms formed by the gods' authority, finally revealing the true forms of these vague divine figures.

These beings were now shrouded in terrifying, dark, and evil auras—they were no longer pure gods.

As soon as they fully appeared, they began muttering insane whispers, which spread recklessly around them.

Fortunately—

The tens of thousands of soldiers, protected by powerful battle formations, did not collapse on the spot.

Seeing this, Gilgamesh put down his chopsticks, watching the video with great interest,

"These gods too seem to have been invaded by some mysterious foreign force."

"Indeed, back then, the invaders didn't just descend upon Sumer," Sanjiro nodded.

One after another, unimaginably powerful beings broke through Earth's Age of Gods, causing the global divine eras to rapidly fade away.

After the Investiture of the Gods, the remaining gods were gradually corrupted, falling into hysteria and madness.

They constantly sought to return to the human world and annihilate humanity.

That's why Nameless and Shikotei were willing to pay any price to sever the connection between mortals and gods.

So humanity could enjoy eternal peace.

The video continued.

The enraged gods roared: "You insignificant mortals, you shall be destroyed by us as we remake the world!"

Mere mortals daring to draw their swords against the gods—an unforgivable offense.

The gods descended into madness.

Endless shadows coiled around them, transforming into countless terrifying, grotesque tentacles.

Just looking at them was enough to strike fear into one's heart.

They had gone completely insane!

They were long ago infected by horrific invaders from beyond Earth, becoming the crazed entities they were now.

Their only desire was to rule unrestrained, forcing humanity into complete submission beneath their feet.

To them, humans were nothing more than sheep to be harvested at will!

However—

Faced with their threats, Nameless showed not the slightest fear.

"Gods, your era has ended! The age of man has already begun!"

Nameless shouted loudly at the divine beings.

Then—

He straightened his clothes and solemnly bowed, making a heartfelt request:

"Please—those who came before me, who fought for the sake of this world—lend me your strength to break the chains that bind this world and set it free!"

A mysterious, unfathomable power spread forth.

The nine cauldrons surrounding him spun violently, like nine planets orbiting the sun.

One after another, figures appeared, as if crossing the river of history.

Buzz!

Countless images flashed wildly.

A man looked up at the stars, then lowered his gaze to observe the earth, using tortoise shells to develop the Eight Trigrams.

He wove nets from rope and taught people how to hunt.

His name was Fuxi—allowing people to provide for themselves without begging the gods for pity.

…

Buzz!

Another man plucked a blade of grass, tasted it, and through endless suffering recorded the properties of herbs, creating a catalog of medicine that could heal and cure diseases.

Through this, he also helped people discover edible grains.

His name was Shennong—allowing humanity to plant their own food without relying on divine charity.

…

Buzz~

A man lowered his head, observing the traces of birds, beasts, insects, and fish, carving strange symbols into the ground.

When he finally succeeded, cries of ghosts and gods suddenly echoed from the heavens.

His name was Cangjie. By creating written characters, he made even ghosts and gods weep, allowing humanity to create their own script without relying on divine beings.

...

One vision after another flashed intensely.

Countless images radiated brilliance.

Each of them had left a heavy mark in the history books.

At this moment—

Nameless was not alone. He was not alone.

Within him, within the Heavenly Sword, gathered the spirits of ancestors who had long questioned the heavens.

A group of ancestral deities sincerely worshipped and revered by the people.

Nameless declared:

"Do you see now? These are the ancestral gods that the people should revere! You lot are nothing but parasites who have stolen the authority of heaven!"

His momentum climbed to its peak.

...

Shokatsu Kōmei gently swayed his feather fan, a smile appearing on his face.

Aside from exposing some of the First Emperor's dark history, Alaya had done well here.

Familiar myths were all displayed vividly in the video.

Mordred stared blankly at the video.

Only now did she finally understand why Nameless had always emphasized believing in oneself and humanity overcoming destiny during his teachings.

Even the gods who wield the authority of heaven and earth are unworthy of worship; only the ancestors who brought hope and future to the people are venerated.

So, Nameless — where exactly are you?

Mordred only wished to find him now and continue receiving the teachings he had yet to finish.

Of course — not because she wanted his body or anything!

With her emotions in turmoil—

On the screen:

The gods all roared in fury: "You ant from the future! You are indeed a heretic — you must be eliminated!"

Yes, they had fully understood now that he was a strange existence who had come from the future to protect humanity.

As long as he lived, humanity would have a future.

If they wanted to completely suppress humanity's rebellion and force eternal submission to the gods, they had to destroy him!

Nameless gripped his Heavenly Sword and challenged the gods above: "I ask you, gods — do you have the courage descend to the mortal realm?"

"As you wish, insect!"

The gods finally lost all control, unleashing bolts of lightning that surged wildly toward Nameless.

Buzz~

The Nine Cauldrons spun violently.

This was none other than the ultimate defensive Noble Phantasm forged by Yu, built upon the foundation of the Nine Provinces.

At this moment, Nameless pushed it to its absolute limit, even making it difficult for the gods to break through.

Boom—

Massive mountain peaks materialized—top-tier god-forged weapons—

[The Heaven-Flipping Seal]

With one strike, the world turned upside down.

It was as if entire mountains were being hurled down.

Even more terrifying than the earlier projection of Mount Tai descending.

Wuming swung his Sword.

Brilliant light radiated as hundreds of thousands of soldiers shouted in unison—

"Wind!"

"Wind!"

...

The unyielding spirit of the soldiers became the strongest fuel, causing the Sword's power to surge once again.

Under everyone's intense gaze—

Nameless slashed toward the descending mountain.

Boom!

A dazzling beam of light clashed directly with the mountain, unleashing an earth-shaking explosion.

But as the light faded—

Everyone was dumbfounded: the mountain remained unscathed!

Yes — the mountain suspended above the sky was completely intact.

This was a god-forged artifact personally wielded by the gods themselves.

Under everyone's terrified gaze, the mountain continued to fall heavily.

In this crisis—

Nameless suddenly turned to Shikotei beside him, smiling,

"Shikotei, though I'm not your teacher, allow me to teach you the strongest move of the Heavenly Sword."

"Master, I once vowed: if I live, I shall ensure the eternal peace and expansion of my; if I die, I shall become a guardian spirit of this land! So — allow me to take this upon myself!"

Shikotei stepped forward, intending to sacrifice himself to save his people.

The Qin was his kingdom — how could he allow his most important teacher to give everything for it?

The Nine Cauldrons radiated brilliantly, preventing him from stepping onto the altar.

"You are the First Emperor. If you die here, it will rewrite the history entirely and collapse human logic."

Nameless decisively stopped him. "As the emperor, sit on your throne and watch me handle the enemy!"

His words were almost identical to when he aided Artoria.

Dominating and forceful, yet willing to sacrifice himself without hesitation.

No—this was even earlier than his time aiding Artoria.

Watching the video, Artoria grew even more conflicted.

Everyone stared at him in awe.

This nameless heroic spirit who wandered the human history was once again sacrificing everything to protect humanity.

It was unimaginable how he had persisted, with willpower surpassing gods.

Nameless pointed his Sword toward distant City. "Shikotei, let me give you one final lesson. Swords, come."

Buzz~

At his soft shout, countless weapons gathered from across the land now surged toward him.

Countless weapons, like a rainstorm.

The seven former warring states had long since become a unified whole.

All the weapons of the land now gathered, allowing Nameless to once again become the Master of Countless Swords!

Using his body as a furnace, the weapons as material, and the will of the people as fuel, he forged countless blades to cut down the very heaven!

Above the heaven—

The gods mocked wantonly: "Give up, humans have limits — you cannot oppose us!"

Even though the Age of the Gods was collapsing, and most of their power was suppressed, preventing their full descent—

It was enough.

Mere mortals, no matter how strong, have limits. They cannot defy the gods who stand above.

This was an unbridgeable gap in the very nature of life!

"If humanity really have limits, I will abandon my mortal shell and transcend it!"

Nameless gripped the Sword, now fused with all the world's weapons, and unleashed its ultimate power—

"Heaven-splitting Slash!"

Boom!

A golden-red pillar of flame shot forth like an unstoppable spear, slamming into the mountain.

The massive mountain was blasted away, smashing directly toward the gods.

The high and mighty gods were forced to dodge in disarray.

But no!

It was not over.

The radiant pillar of light slashed into the heavens, striking at the passage exposed when the gods descended.

Then, under the furious and hateful gazes of the gods—

It was ruthlessly severed!

Crack!

The passage connecting the heavens and the mortal world was cut off, and the gods let out furious roars.

"No!!!"

This meant that the link between the heavens and the mortal world had been completely severed by the opponent.

From this moment on, the gods could no longer descend upon the human world.

Only at this point—

The gods, whose minds had been clouded under the influence of terrifying beings from beyond the world, fully realized that everything had been part of his plan from the start.

Originally, the other party hadn't even located the coordinates of the human-divine passage.

He had simply used the Nine Cauldrons, gambling everything in a mutually assured destruction strategy to force the gods to reveal themselves.

In doing so, they exposed the coordinates of the almost completed passage themselves.

"Despicable and cunning humans!"

The gods cursed in rage.

For dignified gods to be played so easily by mere mortals was utterly intolerable.

But it still wasn't over.

Boom!

A brilliant golden-red pillar of light shot across the heavens and slashed toward the Eastern Sea.

The ocean instantly evaporated along its path, exposing the Eye of the Passage beneath.

In the next moment—

A needle suddenly appeared in Nameless' hand. Its name was—

The Sea-Calming Divine Needle.

It was the very iron rod left behind by Yu when he controlled the floods.

Through the passage of time and the worship of countless people, it had long since transformed into a treasured artifact.

It possessed the power to shrink or enlarge at will.

With enough energy poured into it, it could pierce the very heavens.

Nameless infused all his remaining energy into it, shouting:

"Come now, let me seal you away for eternity, never again to plague the mortal world!"

Buzz~

The tiny needle suddenly expanded wildly.

From barely an inch long, it instantly grew to dozens of meters, then hundreds.

It quickly grew to thousands of meters tall, becoming a towering iron pillar that pierced the clouds.

Then—

Nameless ruthlessly stabbed it into the very source of the human-divine passage, as if stabbing directly into the bodies of the gods themselves.

"No!!!"

The gods screamed in a frenzy.

But unfortunately, the passage had already been severed. They were isolated in another world and had no way to stop the Sea-Calming Divine Needle.

They could only watch helplessly as their last remaining anchor point was completely sealed using Yu's contingency plan.

The Sea-Calming Divine Needle became an anchor that locked the worlds in place.

The world where the gods resided was completely sealed.

No matter how the gods struggled, they could never again descend into the mortal realm.

Thus—

The human-divine passage was severed by Nameless, and sealed with the Sea-Calming Divine Needle, eradicating any future threat once and for all.

…

As countless people cheered—

Nameless' body suddenly gushed out endless blood, his entire form rapidly collapsing.

Forcibly drawing upon power far beyond his mortal limits, his human body simply could not withstand it.

Shikotei quickly stepped forward, completely ignoring the blood, and held him tightly:

"Master, why would you not allow me to fight by your side?"

"Shikotei, this is my mission. And your mission is to rule this vast kingdom well."

Despite his face being covered in blood, Nameless revealed a smile.

"I once told you—if there is no flame to light the world, then I shall ignite myself and become that fire."

"Master..."

Shikotei gazed at him, dazed.

"But I never told you the final part: if there is already light, then I shall gladly fade away and praise that light for illuminating humanity—and for even illuminating me."

Nameless handed the Heavenly Sword back to him.

"Now, the torch of humanity has been passed on to you. Do not stop moving forward~"

Poof~

His body suddenly dissolved into countless points of light, vanishing completely, never to be seen again.

"Master!"

Shikotei held the sword that had been returned to him, gazing blankly at the heavens.

At this moment—

Tamamo-no-Mae, who had disappeared, quietly reappeared.

Behind her, a sixth tail had somehow emerged. Smiling brightly, she said:

"First Emperor, I obtained the secret of immortality in Japan and has refined an elixir of immortality. Would you like it?"

"Present it to me!"

Shikotei pointed the Heavenly Sword at the seemingly mischievous fox spirit.

"Haha, don't be so harsh, Your Majesty. Let us go search for Nameless together. He isn't truly dead, you know~"

The nine-tailed fox Tamamo-no-Mae laughed charmingly.

As a cute little fox, how could she possibly harbor ill intent?

After receiving the elixir she presented—

Shikotei gazed up at the sky and declared with authority,

"I am the first and the final emperor. The sovereign who brings order — I am the First Emperor!"

============

Finally it ended.