Chapter 1946: Blocked From Advancing

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"Just so you know, you are welcome to leave the Tenfold Realm and seek refuge elsewhere. I will not force you to fight," Maria said.

She already had plenty of powerful gods with Shiva and the others, so she was not desperate for more manpower.

Several gods chose to escape with their lives to another world below, but many remained, loyal to their rulers. They decided to stay and fight alongside everyone else.

After that, a great gathering took place. With Shiva leading them alongside Maria, who had formed an unlikely alliance with him after their many battles, they set out to confront the Jade Emperor.

"The gate leading to the Jade Emperor’s Domain on Floor 90 should be just ahead, right on top of that floating island," Kannon said. She guided the army of gods across the skies until they reached the gate connecting Floor 89 to Floor 90.

To their surprise, the gate was heavily guarded, covered from top to bottom with large, glowing chains made of celestial energy.

"What is this?! These were not here before!" Kannon exclaimed. "C-Chains?! Chains of Celestial Divinity!"

"Only an Administrator could forge these Chains of Restriction..." Brahma said.

"So Maria was right...!" Zhulong coughed. "They are trying to stop us from advancing and seal us here with her, probably while they wait for us to destroy the Tenfold Realm!"

"That is correct," Brahma sighed. "So that is why... But why? Why is the Great Creator aiming to betray us? Why..."

"It is because he is mentally ill," Maria said. "Like that old man named Odin we fought before, something happened that drove him mad. But we will uncover the truth once we get through all of this. Shiva, Susanoo, Heavenly Demon, help me out."

Maria called upon the ones with the most masterful and explosive techniques among those she had recruited. All three stepped forward and began charging their powers at once.

"We are breaking through no matter what!" she roared. "Charge all your power and release it on the count of three!"

Maria counted as the three unleashed their strength, aiming their fists or swords at the glowing chains of white light.

She summoned her two swords of light and darkness, fused them into a single blade of chaos, and poured her complete "self" into it.

Slowly, her true living body remained behind like an empty husk, sustained by only the most basic vital signs.

Meanwhile, her sword overflowed with supreme cosmic power far beyond divinity. It surged everywhere, carrying every part of her.

Her soul, mind, heart, consciousness, divinities, skills, and powers—all of it was concentrated and compressed into the blade.

Shiva’s furry fists blazed with chaotic flames as he charged his power, spreading the flames across his body to empower himself.

Susanoo summoned his Sword Soul Heart, the unique version he had modified after learning the technique from Maria, and infused it into a physical katana—his dream weapon.

And finally, the Heavenly Demon’s true aura manifested as dozens of giant, chaotic black and red dragons that roared and terrorized the deities watching.

Then...

When the count reached three...

"NOW!"

Maria, Shiva, Susanoo, and the Heavenly Demon unleashed their concentrated power at once.

Their techniques converged, perfectly woven together by Maria’s mastery over energies and techniques.

They formed a roaring dragon of four colors that clashed violently against the chains.

RUMBLE!

However, the dragon began to struggle. The chains seemed truly indestructible, even against all their combined strength.

"Oh, interesting chains..."

Maria studied their incredible durability. They employed a power from a higher dimension that simply nullified anything from below a certain level.

"Similar principle to the Celestial Walls... but much stronger."

Upon closer analysis, Maria smiled and rapidly channeled her combined powers into the attack.

She summoned the Bodhisattva of Sorrow’s Ascendant Mandala—a giant halo-like ring behind her back overflowing with inscriptions of her life and enlightenment—and fused it with her Dream Heart, her Nightmare Soul, her Void Black Hole, and her evolved Dream Sword Soul Heart.

Using their combined strength, Maria elevated the plane of the attack from the lower dimension where everyone existed into the higher dimension where the chains resided.

An invisible black world briefly emerged around Maria and the other three warriors. The chains, now fully exposed before them, shattered instantly under their assault.

BOOOM!

The chains exploded into countless pieces, and the Celestial Essence scattered. Maria quickly used her Black Hole to devour the fragments and the leaking essence, discovering an incredible truth.

"What?!" Her eyes widened in shock.

These chains appeared as titanic white chains inside her Soul Realm, each the size of half her world.

They were so powerful because they were, by themselves, entire dimensions shaped like chains.

"So that is why it was nearly impossible to destroy them by normal means...!" Maria said with fascination. "Celestials are beings from a higher dimension. Naturally, what they shape and create are dimensions themselves."

"What?!" Shiva asked. "T-That is why the chains were so damn tough? Somehow tougher than the very foundations of the Tenfold Realm..."

"That is fascinating, Maria!" Susanoo said, rubbing his chin. "However, are you sure it is fine to absorb that? I worry that you are too reckless sometimes, my sword sister."

Susanoo had begun calling Maria his "sword sister." Their relationship was not overly formal, and they rarely addressed each other as husband and wife. He was not the type to use terms like "honey," and because he saw her first and foremost as a fellow swordswoman he loved, he called her "sword sister." She did not mind.

"Hm, I see. I think I understand how I could do the same after watching you," the Heavenly Demon nodded. "By modifying one of my martial arts, I should also be able to elevate my attacks from the Plane of Qi, where we are now, to the Plane of Souls, where the higher beings exist."

"What?!" Shiva was still confused, looking around with awe.

"Oh right! If Qi is life—the mortal dimension where we exist—then Soul is the higher dimension where souls reside, correct?" Maria explained. "This is why a normal physical attack cannot harm souls or ghosts. They exist in a different dimension that overlaps with ours, but one we cannot easily reach or affect. Of course, Celestial Energy is on another level. What we use to harm souls cannot damage these Celestial Constructs because, although they exist within the higher dimension, they are not fragile souls."

"I see!" Susanoo nodded. "So we simply reverse-engineer a sword-splitting technique to target whatever we wish. We remove the soul-destroying aspect midway and then use our own souls and divinity to temporarily elevate the attack to the Plane of Souls. Okay, that is simple enough!"

"...Huh?!" Shiva made a strange face as he listened to the three geniuses discuss concepts that went completely over his head, entering one ear and leaving the other.

"Ah, this guy is so clueless..." Maria rolled her eyes.

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