Beyond SSS-Rank After Getting The God System-Chapter 241 - 240: The Battle For Humanity Part 4

Amaterasu Vs Venusiah

Amaterasu appeared in a place that screamed "Safe place once". It was clearly a withered shadow of what it used to be. Sprawling gardens with both decorative ornaments, water features that flowed into ponds which fish could partially be seen swimming in, though a layer of algae now made that difficult.

What was clearly once well maintained grass was now an overgrown mess with tangled weeds struggling to maintain any note of green. Whilst hedge bushes bordered the outer edge, they had clearly been perfectly trimmed until recently but become more than a little unruly.

The gray stone pathway was littered with leaves and unkept, leading from where she stood in the courtyard, up to what looked like a fairy tale palace with cartoonish spires that stabbed at the sky.

The beautiful teal tile, arched windows, and brilliant white mortar were just a casualty to the newfound indifference waiting to happen.

To Amaterasu’s surprise, Venusiah was waiting outside the front door on all fours, completely submissive.

She was wary of any traps that might be sprung, but walked with a confident, authoritative stride regardless, her wood sandals making a clacking sound with every step that made Venusiah twitch.

"Are you wishing to surrender?" Amaterasu was genuinely confused and felt more than a tinge of pity for pale sickly woman.

"Yes! Please! I’ve felt that dragon’s eyes on me! Please, make it stop!" Her voice was riddled with fear and anxiety, hysterical and unbalanced.

"What exactly did my nephew’s sweet little boy do to make you so scared?" She couldn’t imagine him doing anything too terrible, his sister undoubtedly had a sinister side, but Tiamutael struck her more as a curious observer wanting to study everything to figure out where he fits into it.

"Watching! Always watching! Inescapable!..." Amaterasu leaned down and helped her up to try and comfort her, hoping that calming her might make conversation flow a little easier, which it did. "...I know I’m a coward, I never wanted any of this, I wanted everyone to acknowledge the danger non-humans posed..."

As she ranted, it all became clear. Even before the time when incursions were a reality, she was unfortunate enough to have been the victim of a random crossing and watched her place of origin wiped out.

The trauma that stemmed from that incident manifested as a talent for disappearing and escape, whilst also cementing a terrible fear and resentment toward non-human entities in her.

The only thing that ever made her feel safe was knowing she could disappear and lose herself in a new identity whenever she needed, but then that safety net is what earned her Gilgamesh’s attention and finding out that he would always eventually track her down robbed her of that security.

She did terrible things, acted absolutely loyal to the cause, all so that the one that could find her would never care to.

All that changed the moment she met Tiamutael, a non-human entity that not only posed a threat to her regardless of how strong she had become, but would never lose sight of her or anything else in existence.

Since that day, she had realised that all the awful things she had done were not only meaningless, but made her the enemy of a creature she feared more than anything, which in turn made her resent the committee she had been absolutely loyal to up to that point.

"Okay, surrender yourself completely and you will not only live, but also be free of his gaze."

"Of course, but before I do, who are you? I can’t surrender to anything that might put me at odds with the dragon." It was an understandable sentiment, Amaterasu herself had forgotten she wasn’t even part of the faction, she simply fell in line because Carl had decimated her in their match and saved her.

"Tiamutael, maybe you and Equinox should come here?" The colour drained from Venusiah’s skin even more.

A few moments of silence later, the two of them emerged, the sight of how much more powerful he had become turning her blood to ice.

"Master Tiamutael, make sure you speak with both clarity and softness, this one is an inch from unresponsiveness." Equinox acting with the authority and deference of a crown prince’s mentor made the little dragon seem even more imposing.

"I have no desire to harm anyone, I only keep an eye on those who might harm my family. Sign a contract, give up your rights to hide and I promise you’ll never need to and I won’t cast my gaze upon you unless you arouse suspicion."

"A bit stiff, but well done young Master."

"I’ll sign. I recognise my wrongdoing and the one at your side as your father’s attendant." Strangely enough, the sudden shift into formality made it easier for her to cope, she then waited patiently whilst Equinox talked him through the process of forming a contract.

It was soothing to see him being educated, making him seem less daunting, more like the child he was.

When it was done, Tiamutael was about to sign it, but Equinox clicked his tongue and slapped his hand. "Do remember what happened, because the committee had already signed, when the creator changed it they were bound. Do not sign first unless there is a notary specified..."

As the lecture droned on, the accumulated anxiety began to dissipate and Venusiah’s strength followed suit as she started to fall victim to her lack of self-care. It felt to her as though a lifetime had passed, but the reality was that it was less than five minutes.

"Should you be wasting so much time here?"

"I can work from anywhere, the far side of nothingness is a step away, besides Mum Klaire killed Plutinas already, then the planet he was on, then Sol surrendered to Sol-Devourer and Squidge went to sign the contract, then Mum Kyubi killed all Terra’s daughters and then I got told to stop watching."

Venusiah couldn’t believe her ears, Plutinas falling was inevitable, but Sol and Terra were two of the most dangerous. On top of that, Sol hadn’t died, but surrendered. The only one she had any attachment to was Mercurian, but she was comforted by the fact she wasn’t the only one who came to their senses.

Tiamutael finally approached with the finished contract she signed and then Tiamutael studied it for a second before he caught sight of something only he could see. He passed the contract to Equinox and took on his real form, immediately charging his breath attack to its apex and still felt the need to condense it before firing.

"Equinox, handle it, I need to go."

Equinox tried to stop him, but he was already gone.

Carl And Jupiterran

Carl arrived in a room of very spartan design, thick bare walls of rough hewn rock, ancient physical training equipment the only decoration, though anything that was worn to the point of useless was seemingly kept as monument to his harwork.

"Carl, it’s been too long. Judging by the events of the day before yesterday, you’ve decided that none of us can be trus-"

"Stop, relax. That was my daughter, not that I know what she’s trying to achieve, but I can hardly blame her for wanting to make sure you all got at least a little as much as you gave over the years."

"Fair enough, children are supposed to be brash and unrestrained, they need to experience their emotions and make mistakes. So the fact that you’ve come here means?"

"I had no idea what your notes meant, why guess when I can ask?"

Jupiterran laughed then explained that the ones named were simply the ones he wanted to surrender most and also had a good chance of adapting to a new status quo. He admitted that he honestly had no idea who might be persuaded, but expressed a certainty that Plutinas, Terra and Sol wouldn’t.

As he finished talking, Carl received an update from his son, notifying him that Klaire had just killed Plutinas and his planet, which he then passed on to Jupiterran. The two of them weren’t entirely sure what was meant by killing the planet, but they didn’t have time to ask too many questions.

"This is going fast, looks like Ki-ko and Saboteur really left team Gilgamesh crippled, let’s go see who we can convince to take contracted surrender."

Jupiterran nodded and Carl asked who they should go to first, not that it was any surprise when he said Marsian would be the quickest to convince and the two arrived in his hall where he had an ancient looking white stone temple of some kind.

The idea of a committee member having a temple to gods was almost laughable, but for some reason it struck Carl as more tragic than anything else, which their host picked up on almost immediately.

Marsian chuckled bitterly to himself when he noticed his uninvited guest’s expression, admitting that he wasn’t surprised the sight garnered such a reaction. He then revealed that it was the greek pantheon, or in other words, Zeus and his family.

"Back when I was Ajax, I looked down on those who bowed before the gods, but after living long enough to regret I find myself envious I had no such faith..."

He explained that a long life was not the blessing to humans that it was to those who it suited more. He had watched entire civilisation rise and fall, lost more loved ones and even watched the end of his line come to pass.

Over time, he began to respect the gods he once rejected, those who had the strength to view it as just a part of life. Gods had many children with mortals in those days, they watched over them and in the end, watched both those lovers and children die.

To him, it seemed they had an almost innate sense of understanding in regards to that eventuality, one that he wished he was blessed enough to receive.

"...In the end though, I was weak and grew disillusioned, let it corrupt me in ways I could never atone for. I was even glad when the fox spirits attacked and held us to account for our crimes."

Carl’s ears suddenly pricked and he started chuckling. "That’s unexpected, sorry Marsian, I’ll hear you out later. Sol just surrendered, unfortunately that means I don’t have time to chat right now."

Carl walked over as they looked at him in disbelief and offered Marsian a contract. Marsian looked it over, then looked at several of the statues. "Themis, Dike, Astrea and Nemesis... What do I do?"

In a blaze of absolute and unexpected glory, those he named appeared.

"Ajax, your crimes are many and frankly death would be our judgment, but after this man’s daughter arrived on Earth..." Carl had no idea, which one was which, nor did the statues resemble them enough to help.

As the first to speak trailed off though, another took over. "The sisters of fate have warned us through apollo to not try to oppose this man or his faction. We suggest you don’t either."

Then a third looked to Carl. "You need to move with haste, the hourglass of Cronus is running out."

The words hit him like a meteor. If Pandora was freed now, that would also leave Mobius free and if that happened, then the game would begin in earnest. If that happened now, Gilgamesh would absolutely escape.

"Tiamutael!..." Carl didn’t receive an immediate response how he imagined, but sensed a fully charged version of his son’s breath attack head their way, which made Carl realise he startled his son. "Get us all out of here now, Kiddo, me, Marsian, Jupiterran and the gods."

Before they even knew anything had happened they were all in Tiamutael’s realm, with a very sorry looking dragon that Carl was apologising to.

Carl then apologised to Marsian, admitting his temple and maybe the world was gone with the casul demeanour of someone apologising for knocking over a vase, of which there were several authentic greek ones of irreplaceable historical significance in the temple.

Marsian fell into hysterical laughter, at the sight of the little dragon sobbing over his honest mistake and joked that was the reason he hated fighting next to young people.

Carl then told him to apologise later, but he needed to head over to where Gilgamesh was immediately and he should have his mums escort the other two to those who might surrender.

Sowing Chaos: Squidge

After spending a great deal of time training in his little brother’s private realm, in order to get used to the gifts his father had given him, it was finally time to put them to use and he opened a portal to his first world.

He found himself in the training ground of a massive military complex, surrounded by hundreds of soldiers and sensing thousands of more in the area.

Without delay he assumed the characteristics of a wyvern and began tearing through everyone and everything in sight. They attacked with weapons at first, but when his scales proved too thick, they switched to magic and non-physical attacks.

He stubbornly refused to change as he was struck with all the elements, his mind-form and soul-form assaulted as much as his body.

It hurt, but unlike his siblings, he had been Carl’s shield and sword for years. Unlike them he had grown stronger through training and been hurt plenty along the way, to abandon that now would devalue it and he refused to do so.

His flame breath incinerated everything it touched and scores of the altered human soldiers were reduced to ash, then after two minutes he retreated back through the portal which closed behind him.

Then he did the same again.

It wasn’t fun, he took no pleasure in it. He much preferred watching movies on the couch with his family. If he wanted to be able to do that though, he needed to put an end to those who wanted to harm them.

The second facility was the same as the first and the third the same again, but on the fourth he found something different.

The facility wasn’t a training ground or anything like that, it was a conversion facility, one of the places where the humans were altered and where some life might be spared.

With that in mind, he changed tactics. His body became ethereal and stretched into countless tendrils that carefully selected viable targets whilst sparing non-combatants, then reverted into his wyvern form.

In an instant every possible combatant he could reach, found themselves impaled immediately. The result was devastating, that moment changed something in Squidge he couldn’t quite explain, all he knew was that he couldn’t do it anymore.

"Tiamutael, I’m resigning from this, tell those following I’m sorry."

’Do not worry Master Squidge, it is my children who will follow in your wake."

"Sorry, Majesty. Fourth in line is a conversion facility, add it to Gillian’s list."

"If you’re resigning, then I’ll send you over to contract Sol, be prepared in case it’s a trap. Equinox has pulled out as well and we’re now heading to Amaterasu." Tiamutael finally added before sending him over.

When he arrived he did something he had never done, not for any particular reason, but because he was limited in how he could use it. Sol-Devourer and his namesake watched as the gelatinous mass contracted and compacted before he finally solidified into a human form... Gillian’s form.

Then he approached and began forming the contract as he had been taught to do by Lillim in his time as her student.

"Are you the "Squidge" Leanna mentioned in her reports?"

"Sorry, I just killed a lot of people because of you, I’m not looking to be friends. Sign it, or let Sol-Devourer eat you, I don’t care which..."

As Sol looked at the contract he laughed, annoying Squidge greatly enough to force Sol-Devourer to step and tell him to calm down, it was a move that carried a considerable risk and earned a glare from weary slime.

"Apologies, I only find it amusing how lenient you’re being with us." Sol’s words settled him, but Squidge could no longer deny he needed to leave the battle, he simply wasn’t built for such situations.

"Sign it already." Sensing that his window was quickly closing, Sol signed the document, then Squidge signed it and ordered Sol to accompany Sol-Devourer and do whatever he ordered.

Squidge then opened a portal back to Alysse’s world to help coordinate and hopefully assist Saboteur and Alysse with identifying over conversion facilities.

Sowing Chaos: Equinox

The moment Equinox arrived at his first target, he was already in his true-form, a serpentine dragon spanning several kilometers.

He was able to immediately identify every combatant and produced countless needles of light that pierced them without fail.

To the Dragon who was half aspect, two minutes wasn’t a limit, it was excessive.

The simple fact was that there were none amongst the altered human forces that had any power or skill that might allow them to resist in anyway.

The only difference between those with defensive skills and those without, was that those with, died with the added knowledge their efforts were futile.

The needles pierced barriers, obstacles and buildings alike, each one following a perfect trajectory that avoided anything that might affect Saboteur’s ongoing information extraction.

The first place he had been sent to was one of the highest population worlds, thirty thousand altered human soldiers all bearing the crest of Sol, all dead before he had even fully emerged.

The moment he was finished, he simply opened another portal and moved onto the next.

Unlike Squidge, the casualties meant nothing to him, his traw nature as a twinned Aspect of both Order and Chaos made it far less distressing. It was a rare thing that complimented both sides equally, with the eradication of unnatural beings appealing to order and the mass eradication in general appealing to Chaos.

One by one his target worlds fell, thousands by thousands the abominations in service to the committee were laid to rest.