Damon felt a breath against his left ear. He instantly spun, swinging the scythe, but he only cleaved empty air. Loki was still standing thirty yards away, flipping the silver coin."It's annoying, isn't it?" Loki laughed softly. "You have the power to sever concepts. You can cut gravity, space, the light, and the debt, but tell me, Damon Silverstar... how do you cut a joke?"Damon’s expression remained blank, but internally, his mind was racing. Jubei had taught him to strike intent, but Loki had no intent. Aurelius’ Domain had failed because Damon stopped thinking. Loki was the inverse, feeding Damon so much sensory data that it was impossible to lock onto a target."I don't need to cut the joke," Damon said. "I just need to cut the clown."Damon gathered a burst of Divine Mana, expanding his aura outward. He flared his killing intent so vehemently that the physical space around him began to warp and crack. If he couldn't pinpoint Loki with his eyes, he would use his Divine Percepti

Damon closed his eyes. The necrotic orb was inches from his face. Damon didn't try to dodge. He emptied his mind, entering a state of profound nothingness. He severed his own conscious connection to his nervous system, letting the muscle memory of three years of brutal martial arts training take over.The Flow. Because there was no conscious intent to avoid the spell, there was nothing for The Madhouse to reverse. Damon’s body acted on pure, thoughtless instinct. He casually tilted his head a fraction of an inch to the left. The S-Rank necrotic orb grazed his dark hair, sailing past him and detonating against the crater wall behind him.Loki’s smile vanished. His emerald eyes widened in genuine shock. "What?"Damon opened his eyes. The crimson irises were blank, devoid of malice, anger, or strategy.He didn't step toward Loki. His body simply flowed forward, gliding across the neon purple glass like a phantom. He made no sound, because his mind was empty, the domain's reversal law sli

[Goddess of Fate]: LET ME KILL HIM! LET ME KILL HIM! LET ME KILL HIM!The red text filled Damon's vision, blocking out the sky. Damon clutched his broken arm, spitting a mouthful of blood onto the dirt. He forced himself to his knees, his right hand gripping the handle of the scythe like a crutch.‘He's right,’ Damon thought, his vision blurring. ‘I can't redirect raw power, and I can't lift the scythe fast enough to cut him. My stats are gone.’But as Damon looked at the neon, purple sigil of The Madhouse shimmering on the ground beneath him, a desperate, insane thought crossed his mind. ‘Loki had stolen his physical stats. His Strength, Agility, and Vitality, but a Domain wasn't fueled by physical stats. A Domain was the reflection of the soul. Loki's Paradox of the Fool had inverted their physical bodies, but the system couldn't invert a soul.’Damon still had his Demigod Mana Core. It was just trapped inside a mortal, broken vessel."Hey, Fool," Damon rasped, his voice barely abov

She continued her descent, landing on the glassy earth, mere inches from Damon. The sheer density of her manifestation in the mortal realm locked his muscles in place. He was standing face to face with the true sovereign, the architect of his power and his isolation. She was shorter than him, forcing her to look up slightly. She reached out with pale, trembling hands. She didn't look at his scythe, or the carnage around him. Her crimson eyes frantically scanned every inch of his face, her breathing heavy."My beautiful, perfect king," she whispered, her melodic voice cracking with overwhelming emotion. "You did it. You killed them all. You were so magnificent."She reached up, her cold fingertips gently cupping his cheek, tracing the line of his jaw. The touch sent a shudder through Damon’s chest, the brand over his heart throbbing in sync with her physical presence."They tried to take your prize," she murmured, a dark smile curling her lips. She raised her free hand.The Crown of th

Damon stared at the numbers. His Divine Stats had tripled from the influx of EXP after slaughtering the Avatars of Wealth, Light, and Mischief. He had enormous Divine Mana. He was a walking Catastrophe-Class danger."I won the draft," Damon said, looking down at the silver-haired goddess resting against his chest. "The System declared it. I claimed the Crown. What happens now?"The Goddess’s smile faded. She slowly pulled back, her glowing crimson eyes narrowing. The warm, obsessive atmosphere in the Tapestry turned freezing cold."Now?" she whispered, turning her back to him and walking slowly toward her crystallized throne. "Now, the Pantheon throws a tantrum."She waved her hand. A golden viewing screen descended from the ceiling of threads, stopping right in front of Damon. The screen displayed the celestial realm of the Sovereign Gods, a massive amphitheater made of white marble and starlight, usually reserved for the Council of the Seven.The amphitheater was in ruins. The God o