What's happening?
I can't move my body?
The moment Shiva noticed something wrong with his body, a terrible feeling rose within him. He tried to explain what was happening, but he couldn't control his body at all.
At this moment, it was as though this body no longer belonged to him...
What exactly is... Aaaagh!
Before Shiva could understand why, a burst of excruciating pain surged into his brain, causing his consciousness to freeze for a split second.
But immediately afterward, Shiva reacted.
That bastard!
Something was burrowing into his body, and the location was precisely where he had stored that mass of destruction origin power!
Shiva had been hesitating all this time over whether he should absorb that destructive energy.
If he absorbed it, his strength would undergo a qualitative leap.
The problem was that the energy did not belong to him at all. If someone had planted some kind of mark inside it, he would undoubtedly suffer terribly!
In the worst-case scenario, he might even become someone else's puppet.
It was precisely because those consequences had kept warning him that Shiva had never absorbed the energy.
Now it seemed that had indeed been the correct choice!
However, what Shiva hadn't expected was that merely carrying the energy on his person would still affect him.
As the agony throughout his body gradually faded, Shiva's consciousness also began to dim.
Without outside intervention, his fate definitely wouldn't be pleasant.
Coincidentally, there just happened to be an extremely powerful outside force nearby!
"What's wrong? Why aren't you signing?"
Apparently noticing Shiva's sudden pause, Elise immediately looked over, only to see the shocked expression on his face.
Did my conditions scare him that badly? Surely not?
Elise was puzzled as well, but very quickly, she discovered the problem...
Something was wrong with Shiva!
Of course, there was nothing visibly wrong on the surface. What Elise "saw" was something much deeper...
It was as though something was obstructing Shiva's consciousness!
"Could it be...?"
An idea flashed through Elise's mind. She immediately grabbed Shiva's hand and injected her power into his body.
Sure enough, there was something wrong inside Shiva's body!
Two forces were actually clashing within him, and Shiva was somehow the weaker side?
Not good! Shiva is losing!
The instant Elise realized this, she immediately injected a burst of her own sacred power into his body, then pulled away and retreated at high speed.
At that exact moment, Shiva's body changed.
Dim flames suddenly erupted around him, and an immensely concentrated aura of destruction leaked outward like mad.
"Lord Shiva, what's wrong?"
"Damn you, God of the Bible! Did you do something to Lord Shiva?"
The people nearby immediately rushed to Shiva's side and glared angrily at Elise and her group.
This God of Destruction was the strongest member of the Hindu pantheon. If anything happened to him, they truly would have no chance of turning things around.
"..."
Elise said nothing. She merely frowned.
The members of the Hindu pantheon had already begun suspecting her. No matter what she said now, they probably wouldn't believe her.
It would be better to wait until the problem inside Shiva's body disappeared before making a decision... Hm?
Before Elise could react, the sacred power she had injected into Shiva's body suddenly vanished.
Whether it had been destroyed or swallowed, neither possibility was good news for Elise!
Because if her power had failed, that meant...
The man in front of her was no longer the Shiva of the Hindu pantheon!
As the black flames faded and Shiva's expression gradually became dangerous, Elise became even more certain of it.
"Who are you? What happened to Shiva?"
"Seriously, what are you talking about? Aren't I Shiva? What do you mean, what happened to me?"
After hearing Elise's question, the corners of this "Shiva's" mouth gradually curved upward.
"However, after carefully considering your conditions just now, God of the Bible, you've truly gone too far!"
"Shiva" suddenly changed the subject and began listing the problems with the God of the Bible's contract.
"If I agree to this, wouldn't the Hindu pantheon practically become your toy?"
"So, in order to protect our homeland, we have decided to formally declare war on the Biblical pantheon!"
Aside from Elise, everyone present was dumbfounded, including his two friends, Brahma and Vishnu.
Judging by their expressions, they were probably thinking: Didn't we agree to wait until Shiva advanced before looking for an opportunity to act? What are you doing?
But immediately afterward, the change taking place in Shiva caused excitement to appear on the faces of both gods.
Shiva's aura began surging at an astonishing speed. In an instant, it surpassed the limits of their understanding, as though he had broken through into that distant, unreachable realm!
"Shiva, did you break through?"
"This is wonderful! If that's the case, our Hindu pantheon won't have to surrender!"
It wasn't just Brahma and Vishnu. Joy appeared on the faces of many other gods of the Hindu pantheon as well.
"The God of the Bible just happens to be here, and we have so many people. Why don't we eliminate this threat here and now?"
They had been meek and submissive only moments ago, yet now they were already setting their sights on Elise?
In an instant, Metatron and Gabriel immediately moved to Elise's side and vigilantly watched everyone around them.
If the Hindu pantheon truly intended to do this, then even at the cost of their lives, they would hold the enemy back and buy their God enough time to escape.
However, Elise placed a hand on each of her two angels and stopped them, then turned her gaze toward Shiva...
When all was said and done, decisions within the Hindu pantheon had always been made by its three supreme gods. Shiva held the highest position, Vishnu came second, and Brahma last.
But now that "Shiva" had broken through into that realm, his already supreme authority had been accompanied by an enormous surge in prestige!
If "Shiva" gave the word, absolutely no one in the Hindu pantheon would dare oppose him!
Elise wasn't entirely sure what his attitude toward her was. After all, she had never met the person behind the scenes who was controlling Shiva, and she also wanted to figure out exactly what they wanted.
Under everyone's expectant gaze, Shiva spoke.
"Since everyone wants this so badly, naturally I won't disappoint you!"
"The Hindu pantheon hereby formally declares war on the Biblical pantheon!"
He swept his gaze around the surroundings and saw countless excited Hindu gods.
During this period, Heaven's suppression had been far too oppressive for them, and the dissatisfaction in their hearts had long since reached its limit.
With a single sentence, this Shiva had unleashed all the resentment buried within everyone present.
"God of the Bible, since you're already here, why don't you make this place your grave?"
Elise and the two beside her looked like helpless sheep surrounded by a pack of wolves.
But was that really the truth?
Elise certainly didn't think so!
After Shiva began acting strangely, the atmosphere between both sides immediately became tense and hostile.
They were only one step away from war.
"Do you really believe that?"
Elise stared seriously at Shiva after hearing those words. She looked ready to attack at any moment, causing everyone around them to tense as well.
"Of course. As long as we defeat you!"
"As long as we defeat the God of the Bible, the future of this world will belong to us!"
Shiva raised his weapon high, his expression completely reckless, as though he cared nothing for the consequences. If someone like him truly gained control over this world, the tragedies that followed would probably multiply several times over.
So for the sake of this world's future, Elise had no choice but to continue dealing with whoever had seized Shiva's power and taken control of his body.
"Then let's begin!"
Along with Elise's quiet words, everyone who had originally been indoors suddenly found themselves beneath a clear, bright sky.
Teleportation?
No. This wasn't anything like spatial movement. Elise and the others had remained standing exactly where they were. What had moved was the surrounding environment.
Elise had simply used terrifying power to prepare the battlefield for the angels who were about to fight.
In the next instant, it was as though the sky itself had been torn open, and countless two-winged angels flew out from the rift.
The great battle had officially begun!
...
Boom!
Thirty minutes had already passed since the Hindu pantheon and the Biblical pantheon went to war...
The deafening explosions reached everyone's ears. They were the sounds of battle, and proof that the Hindu pantheon and Biblical pantheon had truly gone to war.
However, for the Hindu pantheon as a whole, starting this war appeared to have been the wrong decision.
"Stay still!"
Metatron planted one foot on Vishnu and held a spear of light directly against his neck.
Elsewhere, Brahma was in even worse condition than Vishnu.
Although Vishnu had been defeated head-on and suffered injuries, at least he was still conscious.
Brahma was completely different. His face had been beaten black and blue, and he had even been knocked unconscious... On closer inspection, quite a few bones in his body had been broken.
After all, his opponent had been Gaelle!
As the leader of the new angel army, how could she possibly be weak?
Among the many angels Elise had created, Gaelle was one of the very few capable of rivaling top-tier Super Devils like Metatron.
How could Vishnu or Brahma possibly have any chance of winning?
As for the other gods of the Hindu pantheon, Elise's angel army had dispatched them in no time at all.
Including the two supreme gods, every other deity had already been captured. The angels whose battles had ended were currently cleaning up the battlefield and taking all the prisoners away.
However, some of the angels were still looking up at the sky, because the last remaining combatant of the Hindu pantheon was still fighting Elise above.
And this Shiva was being controlled by someone else...
In summary, there really wasn't a single person left in the Hindu pantheon who could fight.
Of course, that was only from Elise's perspective. If any other pantheon dared say something like that to the Hindu pantheon, the latter would probably demolish their home within minutes.
Now, turning attention back to the sky, to the battle between Shiva and Elise.
Calling it a battle might not have been entirely accurate, because one side had remained on the defensive the entire time without using any means of attack.
"What's wrong? Is this all you've got?"
"The Hindu pantheon below has already been taken care of, you know?"
After dodging another of Shiva's attacks, the corners of Elise's lips were already curving upward.
She had originally thought the person controlling Shiva would be incredibly powerful. But this was it?
That's all?
Elise evaded every attack with perfect timing. After all, she had once used Sacred Speech to simulate Ultra Instinct from the Dragon Ball world!
Back then, she had planted the seed of evasion within her body. By now, that seed had sprouted and grown into a fairly substantial sapling.
Even without using any abilities related to faith, Elise could already use part of Ultra Instinct. It had effectively become part of her body's muscle memory.
Moreover, during the previous thirty minutes of battle, she had discovered a problem with this Shiva.
Although Shiva had somehow reached the same realm as her, that was only on the surface. Elise's true strength was far greater than what she had currently revealed.
On top of that, Shiva's control over his body had become extremely poor during battle.
His body clearly contained tremendously powerful destructive energy, yet he couldn't fully bring it out. Anyone with decent judgment could see that the way Shiva was controlling his power did not suit his current condition at all.
It was like giving an elementary school student an advanced machine. He had absolutely no idea how to use it and could only operate it randomly.
"You're completely wasting such a precious gift!"
After finally raising Shiva to this realm, the person controlling him had ended up exposing such a massive weakness simply because he didn't know how to control the power...
Pant... pant... "I didn't expect you to be this powerful."
"As expected of the person chosen by that Holy Mother Goddess. Even I wouldn't be able to evade so effortlessly under these circumstances."
Shiva wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and stared gravely at Elise.
"I originally thought that reaching the same realm would be enough to eliminate you. It seems I underestimated just how vast this level really is."
Shiva raised his hand and brushed the dust from his body before suddenly bursting into loud laughter.
"But so what?"
"You don't seriously think this is my only trump card, do you?"
Those words caused Elise to frown. She hadn't expected this person to have another trump card.
"But it doesn't matter. I only need to drive you out of Shiva's body, and everything can return to normal."
Golden light radiated from Elise's entire body as she raised her right hand, pointing two fingers like a sword toward the sky.
Divine Word—
"Sever!"
There were no unnecessary words. With that single command, Shiva immediately felt excruciating pain tearing through his body...
"Aaaaaagh!"
What is this?
After taking that attack, Shiva hurriedly checked the condition of the body, only to discover that there wasn't a single wound on it. Not even one drop of blood had been spilled.
"Heh, that's it? You didn't even harm a single hair on my—"
Before Shiva could finish speaking, the sensation of being torn apart surged through his entire body once more. He frantically shook his head and beat himself with his fists, trying to relieve the agony.
Unfortunately for him, the Divine Word had already taken effect!
The "sever" Elise had spoken of was none other than severing the connection between this person and Shiva!
Exactly as Elise had expected, after consuming an enormous amount of Power of Faith, she finally forced this entity out of Shiva's body...
"Unforgivable! Absolutely unforgivable!"
The mass resembling a flame made of soul energy flickered violently through the air.
Immediately afterward, an enormous magic circle spread across the entire sky, affecting even the angels below who were busy securing the prisoners.
Then a gigantic figure familiar to everyone slowly emerged from the magic circle...
Until the moment they saw it, no one could possibly have imagined that this monster would actually appear here!
"Hahaha! You may indeed be powerful, but can you really defeat a monster like this, God of the Bible?"