Chapter 266 The Path Forward

"Do not look at it that way." Michael spoke, reading Leon's mind. "Eventually, your old world would have faced the same fate." He smiled sadly.

Leon's body froze as those words settled in his mind. "What do you mean by that?" He asked.

"Exactly what you think I do." Michael replied. "After this world is destroyed, it is only a matter of time before yours will meet its demise. And the resistance put up by your world would definitely be less than what this world can muster. Less than five thousand years with mana is too little for your world to be able to put up a basic resistance."

"..." Leon remained silent at that.

"You may think that I am exaggerating the dangers that are heading this way, but let me elaborate a bit and make you understand." Michael waved his arm and another projection was manifested. A burning world was displayed in the projection. Leon watched as the broken tears in space widened, gnawing on the fabric of that world.

Black, reality devouring flames lit the world ablaze, consuming entire nations at a time. Entire patches of the world disappeared from existence, erased in their entirety at once.

Leon stumbled back as the sight was too much for him to stand, and Michael waved his hand again, making the projection vanish.

"Can you see what is coming our way? This world was destroyed a mere two hundred years ago, and they had almost twice as many Major Gods as this world. Yet, they did not stand a chance. Do you want to know why?" Michael tilted his head. Leon was too stunned to reply, but he spoke anyway. "Because they had a True God leading their army." He said.

"H-how are we supposed to fight against THAT?!" Leon finally forced out a string of words.

"Through you and the others we have brought to this world. It is a complicated thing to explain. When you reach the level of a Minor God, then you will be able to understand your own existence well enough that I will not need to explain it for you." Michael shook his head.

"I will bestow you something to help with your upcoming battles. Keep on growing, carry out a Race Advancement. It should be your last before you break free of the System. With time, you will understand." He said and waved Leon over.

Leon steadied himself with some effort before walking forward. When he arrived before Michael, the God burned in his sight, like a silver sun. Waves of Divinity flowed off Michael's shoulders, like a rushing waterfall that turned the surrounding area into a watery haze.

"I will inscribe enchantments onto your body. They will help you." Michael said and placed his hand on Leon's exposed skull. A wave of Divinity burst forth from his body, so bright that it instantly blinded Leon's senses. Leon felt a wave of pain assault his body, forcing him to his knees.

Everything went blank as Leon was unable to withstand the pain that was assaulting his mind, body and soul. When next he woke up, he was laying in a bed in one of the many rooms of the Temple. Michael and Asteria were nowhere to be found.

He wordlessly sat up from the bed and raised his arms to examine them. Immediately, the difference stood out. Intricate white patterns ran all from his wrists and down under his sleeves.

Leon quickly got up from the bed and waved his hand, creating a sheen of ice that acted as a mirror so he could see the rest of his body.

"At least it didn't get on my skull." Leon commented as he turned from side to side. He pulled off his black robes to expose his upper body and nodded in appreciation. "I wonder what they do."

He soon found himself in a training room with enough space to cast large spells. He did not plan on doing anything big, but he wanted to have enough leeway just in case something went wrong.

Leon lifted up his arms and felt the rush of mana intertwined with Divinity flowing through the room. The lecture he had gotten from Michael had truly been an eye opener. Previously, he had always seen Divinity as another aspect of mana, something like a higher form, but now, he knew that it was different. Much different.

'To think there is another concept of power above Divinity.' He thought to himself as he finally readied himself to cast some spells.

Buzz!

The mana in the air around him churned with activity as it came under the influence of his formidable mind.

'Even with all the power I have struggled to get in so little time, I am still nothing...'

Mana was usually formless and without mass until it came under the influence of a person, and was then converted into an element. Now, however, the air around Leon lit up with motes of bright light as he tapped into the strange power that had been bestowed onto him by Michael's divine powers.

"No way..." Leon murmurs and quickly glances through his status page. The words, <Intermediate Grade Mana Manipulation level 1>, are glowing brightly. His face spreads into a grin as he imagines all the things he could do with this new skill.

"Casting spells will be even easier! Mana in everywhere. Just imagine how much more versatile I can be!" Leon burst out into a fit of laughter as he began to experiment. A portion of the mana around him twisted and formed a glob of water that floated in the air. Another portion of the mana turned into a fireball, while another turned into a small sphere of wind. A patch of darkness manifested in the corner of the room, causing an eerie feeling to creep over the room. A block of earth rose into the air, while a mass of compressed gravity began to bend and warp the space in the corner of the room.

"I've never been so free to use so many spells at once!" Leon exclaimed with bright eyes. He looked around, wondering how much of a beating this training room would be able to take. But he quickly decided against going overboard. He did not want to cause an unnecessary commotion.

"Speaking of commotions, I wonder if that stare down between those Gods caught anyone else's attention." Leon wondered out loud, holding his chin.

Bit by bit, the blazing mana around him calmed down and everything went to normal. His robes stopped flapping in the air, and the white, glowing inscriptions on his bones also calmed down.

Everything that had happened ever since he raised Londo had given him a lot of food for thought. He now had a solid path ahead of him, although getting there would be anything but easy.

"Paragon of Undeath, Minor Gods, Major Gods, True Gods, Divinity, and Laws... All this is so far, yet seems to be so within reach... I need to get stronger, much stronger than I am, quickly." Leon clenched his fist and the fire in his eye sockets blazed as his determination blazed as well.

"Now, to find out what happened while I was out cold." Leon spun around and marched out of the training room and through the main hall of the temple. But as he walked, his footsteps suddenly hurried up as he felt something building up ahead. A large amount of power was building up, and it was truly frightening to say the least.

Bang!

The doors swung open and Leon stepped out of the temple, only to be met with a giant fist covered in black fire. Instantly, his body moved, but he was too slow, as a large, stone golem appeared in front of him, catching that fist and glowing with white light.

Bang!

Leonidas took a step back as the force of his punch was reflected back at him through a strange method by the stone golem. The stone golem was one of the guardians that Michael had put around the temple to protect it. It was a Peak A rank being, and had easily handled one of Leonidas' punches!

"Leonidas!" Leon exclaimed for the Beastkin to stop. However, there was no need, as the powerful Emperor had already seen him and had paused his further attempts to bypass the golem.

"Leon! Where have you been?! You just vanished into the temple and haven't come out for the past three days!" Leonidas exclaimed, a deep frown etched onto his face.

"What?!"