Above the sea, enormous crimson bubbles continuously surfaced, as if the sea were boiling like a gigantic cauldron. The entire surface of the sea looked like a pot of boiling blood.
Observing that bizarre scene, Nakano Yu remained completely calm, only tightening his grip on the Sword of Promised Victory in his hand.
He could feel a violent life force, one that even surpassed his own.
"That old man really has many tricks."
A trace of disdain flashed through his eyes as Nakano Yu muttered.
Nakano Yu had already seen many similar authorities, such as the fusion of the Daihokutsunichi God or Prometheus's Water-Born Lightning Fire power transforming into rain clouds. All of them possessed similar characteristics.
But this kind of authority was nothing special to Nakano Yu. After killing many Heretic Gods, he had become quite experienced in dealing with these kinds of explosive powers.
Without any hesitation, Nakano Yu's figure flickered and rose from the low altitude, distancing himself from the sea below.
Just as Nakano Yu thought he had reached a safe distance, at least far enough not to be suddenly attacked, a reddish-golden light suddenly flickered within the crimson sea.
That light was initially only the size of a fingernail, yet it still attracted Nakano Yu's attention because it appeared especially conspicuous in this dark and bloody sea.
Under Nakano Yu's gaze, that light rapidly expanded, reaching a diameter of ten meters in only a single breath.
At the same time, the reddish-golden radiance became incomparably dazzling, illuminating the entire night sky in red.
"Gold?"
Nakano Yu was not surprised when he sensed the aura coming from the reddish-golden light. Ebisu was known as the God of Wealth after all, and wealth was almost always associated with gold.
However, Nakano Yu could sense that the reddish-golden light was not particularly powerful, which made him wonder what Ebisu was actually trying to do.
"Bang!"
Suddenly, the mass of reddish-golden light exploded with a loud bang, and golden light scattered across heaven and earth. Even Nakano Yu had to narrow his eyes because of the brilliance.
"Buzz~"
The golden light gradually weakened, a long and piercing sound rang out, and the remaining golden light began gathering together, forming a golden carriage within Nakano Yu's field of vision.
On the carriage sat a figure wearing a mask on his face, dressed in luxurious robes, with a black tall hat on his head and a large golden carp with reddish-golden scales in his hands.
There was no need to think much to realize that the figure was Ebisu, but the current Ebisu no longer carried even the slightest trace of the deformed appearance he had during his first meeting with Nakano Yu, nor the miserable state in which Yu had suppressed and beaten him earlier.
The current Ebisu radiated a noble aura from head to toe, and every movement carried a sense of wealth.
Observing Ebisu, Nakano Yu could feel the changes in his body. He was much stronger than during their first meeting, almost... at the power level of the Heretic God, Amaterasu.
However, judging from Ebisu's behavior, Nakano Yu believed that he was far inferior to the Heretic God, Amaterasu.
Although Ebisu appeared incomparably luxurious at first glance, what he gave Nakano Yu was more a sense of falseness than wealth; as if Ebisu were desperately trying to emphasize his own wealth.
Compared to the astonishing impression that the Heretic God, Amaterasu, had left on Nakano Yu during their first meeting, Ebisu was nowhere close.
In the end, he was a failed product abandoned by Izanagi and Izanami. No matter how much he decorated himself with jewels, the feeling of being a "failed product" still followed him.
"Ignorant mortal, do you know your sin?"
However, Ebisu did not know what Nakano Yu was thinking. He raised his head, and his eyes hidden beneath the white cloth in the darkness stared at Nakano Yu as he spoke with extreme arrogance.
As if the Heretic God whom Nakano Yu had just slashed with his sword and completely suppressed was not him at all.
"If you want to fight, then fight. Don't waste my time with nonsense."
Seeing Ebisu's arrogance, the corner of Nakano Yu's lips twitched slightly. The moment his words fell, his entire body shot out like a cannonball, carrying killing intent, dragging the magic sword capable of cutting through everything and charging toward Ebisu.
Seeing this, Ebisu revealed a disdainful smile and waved his hand, scattering dazzling golden light.
The moment the golden light illuminated Nakano Yu, it transformed into a thin fishing line and, without giving Nakano Yu time to react, directly bound him.
"Hmm? Interesting."
Wrapped in the golden thread, Nakano Yu's figure gradually slowed down. He had not activated the Phoenix avatar's enhancement, and relying solely on Wind of Gusting Wind and Raging Waves for acceleration would never reach the speed of light. Therefore, he simply stopped and began observing the golden thread binding him.
Strange runes circulated around the golden thread. Although the runes were golden, Nakano Yu could feel a very repulsive aura coming from them.
"This is... human greed?"
After carefully sensing the composition of the golden thread, Nakano Yu muttered.
He possessed the Goat of the Eastern God of War, which was very similar to this golden thread. The Goat avatar could gather the mental power and desires of the surrounding masses and use them to create golden lightning that judged sinners.
And on this golden thread, Nakano Yu could also feel human desires, but this desire was full of directionality, carrying endless greed and longing.
Combining that with the fact that Ebisu was the God of Wealth, Nakano Yu easily understood what that golden thread was.
He lightly tensed his body and attempted to directly tear apart the golden thread, but he did not expect it to suddenly expand, becoming as thick as a hemp rope, while simultaneously beginning to tighten.
Seeing this, Nakano Yu appeared somewhat surprised. He had not expected this thing to possess such a trick, but if it thought it could restrain him with only this, then it was dreaming too much.
Thinking of that, Nakano Yu directly raised his hand, and terrifying force immediately tore apart the golden thread.
However, after the thread was torn apart, it unexpectedly began twisting by itself, as if it wanted to regenerate. Naturally, Nakano Yu had no intention of allowing that. Cursed power surged through his entire body, and the Sword of Promised Victory in his hand swung, turning the golden thread into dust.
"Oh? He actually cut it apart?"
Seeing that Nakano Yu had truly cut apart the golden thread, Ebisu appeared somewhat surprised. His golden thread represented desire, humanity's desire for money and wealth. Ebisu had originally thought that Nakano Yu too would succumb to his nature before this thread, but obviously that was not the case.
Ebisu did not believe that any human could reject absolute wealth. Nakano Yu must have used some special power to sever his own desire for wealth.
Thinking of that, Ebisu said nothing. He merely waved his hand, and four spatial cracks suddenly appeared around the young man. From them, thick golden chains as thick as an arm suddenly shot out, targeting Nakano Yu's arms and legs.
Facing Ebisu's new attack, Nakano Yu immediately decided to activate the Phoenix avatar. As faint golden light emerged from his body, Nakano Yu felt as if everything in the world had slowed down within his eyes...
The white cloth on Ebisu's face being moved by the wind shifted slowly in the distance, and even the golden chains charging toward him appeared as slow as turtles.
With a light flicker, Nakano Yu's figure instantly appeared before Ebisu.
"What?!"
Nakano Yu's sudden extreme speed shocked Ebisu. Instinctively, he opened his mouth to ask what had happened, but in the next moment, the magic sword-transformed Sword of Promised Victory swung toward his head.
"Clang!!!"
Just as the Sword of Promised Victory was about to sever Ebisu's head, the metallic sound of collision rang out.
Nakano Yu's Sword of Promised Victory ultimately failed to cut off Ebisu's head; it was stopped before it even touched him.
Although Nakano Yu had not expected his attack to immediately cut off Ebisu's head, he was still somewhat disappointed when he saw that Ebisu had blocked his attack.
What blocked Nakano Yu's attack was a sword!
It was a longsword, completely golden, with dazzling golden patterns shining across it. At first glance, it looked almost identical to the Excalibur in Nakano Yu's hand!
Of course, there was still a difference in material between the two swords. Nakano Yu's Excalibur was not merely the ordinary Holy sword Joyeuse, while the one before him was entirely made of gold. Under Nakano Yu's recent strike, the golden blade had even bent.
But it should be known that the sword in Nakano Yu's hand was not an ordinary Excalibur, but a magic sword enhanced through [Torn Silver Hand], capable of cutting through anything!
And yet, even such a sword had been stopped.
"Quite interesting."
The young man looked with interest at the Holy sword Joyeuse that was incredibly similar to Excalibur. After saying that, he raised his hand and used the magic sword in his hand to knock it aside.
"Earlier, you imitated my aura to create a golden Excalibur, right?"
This time, Nakano Yu did not rush to kill Ebisu. He looked at Ebisu sitting upon the carriage, without even the slightest sign of panic, but instead completely calm, and spoke.
"Heh, go ask Yama!"
With a cold sneer, Ebisu was full of disdain. Nakano Yu had only avoided his golden chains thanks to his extreme speed. And now this guy even dared to stop? He truly overestimated himself!
The moment Ebisu's words fell, several sharp spikes suddenly grew out from the pure golden carriage. The spikes gleamed beneath the moonlight, charging forward with the intent to pierce the young man like a swarm.
However, although the spikes were fast, Nakano Yu was even faster. The moment they appeared, Nakano Yu reached out his hand and pulled dazzling white moonlight, forming a wall before himself to block the spikes' attack.
Seeing that, Ebisu's face darkened. He raised his hand and patted the carriage, and then shimmering golden light suddenly appeared behind him.
The golden light rapidly expanded, transforming into enormous holes of light in the blink of an eye.
From afar, they looked like countless shining stars neatly arranged across the sky.
"Die!"
Ebisu coldly shouted, and from the hundreds of holes of light appeared various forms of Holy sword Joyeuse.
The moment Ebisu's words fell, countless Holy sword Joyeuse rained down like a storm toward Nakano Yu's figure.