"Apsu, primordial dark god." Meruem looked at Aria, who was now radiating black Cosmo. Still— even if you're a dark god, do you really have to dye your host's skin pure black too? Apsu's taste is seriously weird.
"Orion Ultimate Lightning Light-Speed Punch!" Blue Cosmo laced with lightning struck at Meruem from behind, but Meruem merely snapped his fingers and Eden's body was flung out at twice the speed it came in. He tumbled and crashed into a few more bookshelves.
"If you really want to die, I can grant your wish right now." Meruem turned and looked down at Eden, who was struggling to get up, and at Medea, who was using her body to stand between Meruem and Eden. "You're really lucky—having a mother who loves you that much."
"Damn it… give Aria back to me." Eden glared at Meruem viciously, looking like he could launch another attack at any moment.
"I have zero interest in your Aria. My only target is Apsu. Since your mother took the initiative to summon Apsu, I'll spare your life for now. But… to avoid trouble, you two should behave and just watch."
A red pentagram appeared in Meruem's hand.
"Sage Art: Four Violet Flame Formation!" This barrier technique was the one the Sound Four used back when Orochimaru fought the Third Hokage.
But in Meruem's hands it was strengthened—at the very least, with Medea's and Eden's power, they couldn't break it.
A shrunken Four Violet Flame Formation enveloped Eden and Medea.
Meruem then turned his attention to Aria, who was writhing in pain, ignoring Eden's shouting inside the barrier.
Apsu had been awakened early. As the holder of a light-attribute Cosmo, Aria was still capable of resisting Apsu's control.
What a hassle. I'll just pull your soul out.
In the ninja world, this kind of technique was everywhere. After Meruem's enhancements, its power was even greater. And an incompletely awakened Apsu couldn't resist Meruem at all. A lump of pitch-black something was pulled out of Aria's body.
A dark god without full consciousness, running only on instinct—even if powerful—couldn't resist Meruem's force in a soul state.
"That's a pretty unpleasant smell." Meruem casually tossed the unconscious Aria into the barrier beside Eden, then stared at the unknown mass in his hand. To avoid trouble, he used one of the strongest barrier arts on it—a shrunken Four Red Sun Formation. "So this is what a primordial dark god looks like?"
"Hey, witch over there. I'll honor the agreement and not kill you, but if you ever come out stirring up trouble again, I will kill you." Before leaving, Meruem spoke to Medea and Eden with killing intent. Meruem was a man of his word. Since he'd said he'd spare them if Medea summoned Apsu, he would keep that promise.
Besides, their strength couldn't stir much in front of him anyway.
Medea was smart. Even the dark god she relied on couldn't resist Meruem in the slightest. Once she understood the gulf between them, she should know what choice to make.
"What is this? It can actually imprison this god?!" On Meruem's way back to the battlefield where his clone was fighting Mars, Apsu's soul seemed to awaken.
But it didn't matter. If the dark god weren't trapped by a barrier, Meruem might have had to spend some effort. But with Apsu already sealed inside a barrier, even a tiger had to behave like a cat.
"I will kill you." Meruem ignored Apsu's rabid barking in the barrier. He casually took out a container, stuffed it inside, slapped on a few talisman-like papers, and tossed it into his four-dimensional apartment. Done.
"Now it's just Mars left. War god… heh."
"Special Beam Cannon!" "Evil Flash!" "Galaxy Star Explosion, Modified!" After a barrage of attacks, Mars ended up like a dead dog, hauled in Meruem's hand. Meruem pulled out Mars's soul as well, stuffed it into a bottle he pulled from nowhere, and sealed it with talismans.
"All done. This still feels strange." Meruem had an odd feeling. Whether it was Mars or Apsu, neither was as strong as in Meruem's memory. The Mars he remembered had suppressed Athena and Seiya fighting together, yet this Mars couldn't even handle a single clone of his.
This level of power—forget Hades. It was even a notch below the twin gods Death and Sleep.
And Mars never even used Dark Injury, the ability that made the Five Bronze Boys all lose most of their combat power.
It was like selecting an epic-difficulty stage, only for the boss to be on easy mode.
Not only did it cause Meruem no trouble, it felt like they were delivering themselves. And it wasn't just Mars—Apsu's power was the same.
After dealing with Mars, Meruem finally noticed what was wrong. In Omega, Apsu's soul appeared as an enormous mass of darkness. But in Meruem's hand now, it was only palm-sized. That didn't fit the title of primordial dark god at all.
Could it be that time travel caused power loss? Or did that bastard Yoma tamper with something? Meruem's expression shifted, but in the end he said nothing.
Right now the enemy was in the dark and he was in the open. Yoma was hidden somewhere unknown. Given the situation, he could only act along with the script.
But I won't let you toy with me. It's time to cause some trouble for the gods of heaven.
With the Little Sanctuary's two strongest entities dealt with, the rest—whether Gold Saints or those weird fighters—collapsed like rotten wood.
Mars's Four Heavenly Kings were quickly taken out. The Saints who came to purge the Little Sanctuary soon finished their opponents as well.
The only one still struggling was Pisces Amor. Worthy of being Omega's strongest Gold Saint—his strength was beyond ordinary people. But facing Ikki, who fought like he had cheats turned on, Amor finally fell unwillingly.
From start to finish, his sister Medea never appeared again. Looks like she'd already abandoned her little brother. "Time to go back. Let's see whether these two so-called gods I picked up can help me break through to the Ninth Sense." Shaking the two bottles in his hand, Meruem muttered to himself.
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