Chapter 1980: Chapter 1980. Master’s Declaration
"Bold words," Master said to Wong. "You do understand what will happen if you refuse to submit, don't you?"
Wong wasn't perturbed by the threat. "If you think everyone will fall in line simply because you have the power, you are no different than those tyrants in our past world. There will come a time when people say it is enough and can't take it anymore. They will then rise against you."
"I would like to see them do," Master chuckled. "Unlike our past world, I don't need to rely on others. No matter how many oppose me, I can eliminate them with a simple snap of the finger."
Master demonstrated by snapping his fingers. Wong's body shook heavily.
"Grrghh...!" Wong felt like he was having a heart attack. His HP fell straight down to 10%. He almost fell to his knees from the pain, but he stopped himself halfway. The pain was still there, but he endured it. He panted while maintaining his gaze on Master.
Master turned to Long. "What about you?"
Long shrugged. "You should know I never truly submit to you. If you do, you are more delusional than I thought."
"Hehe, delusional, eh?" Master chuckled. He floated up while at the same time, the area around there darkened a bit. "You might think my quest of becoming a God is a delusional dream in the past, but what do you say now? When reality is before your eyes?"
"I admit you surprised me, but that's all," Long answered.
*BOOM!*
An incredible pressure fell upon Long. The pressure was so strong Long couldn't stand straight. He was down on all fours on the ground.
"Haha. Even if you refuse, you will still kneel," Master laughed.
"Long!" Wong called in worry.
"You too, Wong," Master uttered. The same pressure bore upon him. If Long, who had higher stats, was unable to resist, how could Wong? He was also down on the ground.
"Hahaha...!" Master's laughter echoed throughout the land.
"Is this how you are going to spend your Godhood?"
Master was startled that someone dared to talk to him after the display of his power. He turned to the one who spoke.
"You... If I'm not mistaken, you are that fool's grandfather."
"I have no idea who you are talking about," Domon said.
"Hehe. Considering that fool has your blood, I kind of expect you to refuse to kneel."
"I very much want to, but I am a nobody. No need to talk about me. This is your big day. You are at the center stage here. Are you going to celebrate it by showing everybody how petty you are?"
"Hmph... I can see now where that fool comes from," Master said. "But you are right. There is no need for me to bother with small matters."
He snapped his fingers. Both Wong and Long vaporized. Only Long came back to life immediately because of his Immortal Soul. Both didn't wear the Amulet of Rebirth. The way they saw it, the result was the same. Master waved his hand and Long turned into dust again. Master floated into the air. His voice boomed across the plane. A projection of him appeared in the sky. This projection did not only appear in the sky here but also in the sky all over the world. Every inhabitant of the world could see his image.
"People of the world!" Master addressed. "This is your God speaking. Your only God! Starting today, the old Gods are no more! So are your rulers. From now on, you will no longer be governed by the sovereigns. I will decide the rulers of each country, and you will bow to them. They will be the extension of my hands. If you defy them, you defy me. Let me be clear with you. I'm not the old Gods who leave you to your own devices. In the next few days, I will lay out some ground rules. If you break my rules, you better believe I will come and enact punishment. This world is now mine! All of you will abide by my rules!!!"
Jack appeared at Chris' secret garden after he accepted the invitation from Chris to teleport. John and the others had arrived earlier. Jack accepted the invitation later because he was still speaking with Master via his copy. He was in the mana awakening state when he arrived. He ended that state now.
"You know, I was amazed when you activated that rainbow light thingy during your fight with Satan. I didn't know something like that was possible," Chris said about Jack's mana awakening. "Which is exciting if I think about it. This means this world is evolving into something that might surprise me further. Being a ghost of a creator does have its setbacks. It is boring when you know everything."
Jack ignored Chris' ramblings. He went to the others. Everyone was there except for Will. After John sent the messages, all twenty-two players possessing the pinnacle classes contacted Chris and asked to be teleported here.
"Great thinking on escaping Master," Four Winds told Jack after he arrived.
"Thanks, I was just lucky," Jack replied.
"I can't call that mana awakening as luck," Wilted said.
"I will tell you what luck is. We are lucky he went to Jack's place first," Spring Crown said. "If
he went to any other fronts, one of us is most likely a goner already. If that happens, our chance of taking him down is gone."
"Who is it that makes this stupid rule about needing all of us to take out Master's divinity?" Jet said rather loudly.
"You should feel lucky there is a rule at all to take out his divinity!" Chris shouted back. They were near his lakeside gazebo. He went to the gazebo and activated his spying platform. The projection showed the place where Jack had just come from. The place where Master was at. Some went to watch the projection.
"So, what's our play now?" Jack asked John.
"Either way, we have to wait for Will," John answered. "He is still inside the training cave."
"What is his level now?"
"Chris said he was level 87 when he entered the cave earlier today."
"He sure takes his sweet time," Paytowin remarked.
"It is only four days since we head out to face the devils," John said. "He is supposed to still have another week to train. I say we wait until he reaches level 90 before we face Master."
"Do we need to wait?" Jeanny asked. "The divinity-stripping power doesn't depend on our levels, does it? As long as we are together, we can do it even if our levels are low."
"Yeah," Paytowin agreed. "Once Master loses his divinity, Jack can enter mana awakening and finish the fight swiftly."
"Not to mention, it's twenty-three against one," Jeanny added. "Even if he has five classes,
he is no match against the twenty-three of us."
"You are assuming he is alone," Wilted said.
They heard a commotion from the group watching the projection. They went over to check. They saw then what caused the commotion. Master had summoned a large army of underworld demons. These demons seemed to be following his commands.
"He is certainly not alone," Jet remarked.
"We are also not alone," Jack said. "My army and our allied guilds are just waiting for our
signal before acting."
"That is assuming he didn't wipe them out right there," Jet said.
"Can you please stop jinxing things?!" Paytowin scolded.
They watched the projection tensely. They were worried Master lost all rationality after becoming divine and turned into a Mad God. Fortunately, only Wong and Long suffered his wrath. The others who knelt were spared. They then watched Master projecting his image to
the world.
They looked up and saw no image of Master in the sky. This place was immune to Master's
influence.
After the declaration was over. Master went to speak with Linda and Xugguth. He then vanished. Linda and Xugguth started giving orders to the natives and players at that place. Either from pretense or true fear after witnessing what Master was capable of, no one
disobeyed.
"I say we wait for Will to reach at least level 90 first," John said, resuming their conversation. "That should be around two more days with the help of Time Manipulator... unless Chris has
more exp
pills?"
"Chris doesn't have," Chris answered.
"In either case, we need to study what Master is doing," John continued. "We can't have the
twenty-three of us going around the world looking for him. Once we learn his movement patterns, we can decide when and where to engage him. This should maximize our chance of taking him out. That, of course, considering Chris allows us to use this spying tool for that
purpose."
Chris opened his mouth about to say something but closed it again when Wilted said, "Chris allows that."
"Very well, then. Let's lay low here for a few days while we observe the situation," John
announced. "Those of you still below level 99 better use the training cave to pass the time. We need to be ready by the time we face Master. We only have one shot at this. We need to make it
count!"