God Crafter

The gate sat in a stretch of collapsed industrial ground three tiers below Neo-Eden's main structure, close enough to the platform's edge that the checkpoint guards had the particular grim efficiency of people who'd stopped pretending routine gates stayed routine anymore.

Kai arrived on foot this time, deliberately, walking the last half mile alongside the others instead of stepping out of shadow ahead of them. He'd noticed Reika watching him do it and understood, without needing to ask, that it had registered as a choice rather than an oversight.

"Pre-break signature's been climbing for six hours," Mira said, reading from a Bureau relay stone as they approached the perimeter. "D-rank gate, historically stable, showing readings closer to what we'd expect from a C-rank break in progress. Whatever's inside has been feeding on something it shouldn't have access to."

"The Trial's pressure," Kai said. "Same as every other break since the Ding. The seals are all straining harder than they used to."

Cael glanced at him — the first thing he'd said directly to Kai since the incident three days ago — but didn't ask how he knew that. Nobody in the group had asked him much of anything directly yet. Wary respect, exactly as advertised.

"Formation," Mira said, and the group split into the pattern they'd clearly drilled dozens of times before Kai ever arrived. Dess and Reika toward the rear, ready to pull anyone wounded clear. Yuen at the flank, quiet and coiled. Toren and Ilse together near the front, the twins' rivalry apparently dissolving completely the instant actual danger arrived.

Kai looked at these dumbass's trying to pose as if they're in avengers endgame

He stepped forward and smacked each and everyone of them on the head, " are you guys stupid what are you doing waiting for the beasts to come spilling out of the gate can you handle the damage it would cause to the surrounding areas and what about the civilians that would be involved in this mess"

They all looked around their eyes darting everywhere as Kai just shook his head and started walking towards the gate.

The mana waves coming off it was rising into ridiculous heights. He turned to look at them and they scrambled back to their feets in an instant their expression turning serious as they stepped into the gate together.

The moment they crossed into the gate the first thing they were greeted by was the multitude of beasts ranging from E rank all the way to the boss which was B rank their numbers were in the tens of thousands

Every single one if them gulped they had fought beasts before but never on this scale, but they were trained warriors and seeing the beasts made each and every one's blood boil they were itching to kill something

Kai noticed their battle intent and gave a little smile even though he came to watch how they coordinated, and fought with the physiques and bloodline that he had made

His blood still boiled at the sight of these beasts but he refrained, though he had been the one to create those bloodlines and physiques knowing and seeing were two separate things

---

Then the beasts spotted them goblins, wolves, orcs Kai even spotted something that resembled a mammoth.

Then they charged all at once towards them with madness in their eyes.

Seeing this they activated their abilities ready to kill some beasts

Each of them were strong in their own right their awakener rank at peak C rank and Mira at half step B rank

Then they all charged too torens smile was wide as he activated his war sovereign physique boosting his stats two fold then he brought out his massive cleaver from the systems inventory

And slashed through the first beasts coming at him with ease.toren had noticed something about this physique the thing that made this physique so overpowered was that it showed its effectiveness in large scale fights the more he killed the higher his attributes climbed the buff could be stacked infinitely and the battle aura that came off him in waves made weaker beasts hesitate to approach

Making very easy to slaughter them in droves

His twin ilse was not far behind as she activated her Angels decent physique her entire body was bathed in light as six magnificent wings burst out of her back radiating the aura of pure light blinding the beasts momentarily.

A crown of light manifesting on her silver hair making her look every bit divine.

[Sword of judgment -A rank]

This was one of the overpowered abilities that came with this physique as it Condensed light element combined with judgement aura making it look like she was both judge, jury and executioner.

She swung the sword once and a wave of white judgment swept out slaughtering and turning the beasts into minced meat she alone had wiped out almost a third of the beasts with just one swing.

Toren looked up his expression turning annoyed "Sis! Leave some for me" his battle aura flaring even more

Ilse didn't even spare him a glance "such a show off" toren muttered and continued to slaughter the beasts left and right

Kai was astonished to say the least as this was unprecedented he could feel the power radiating from the twins and didn't know whether to cry or laugh because what the hell

Are these monsters in disguise no wonder they were called prodigies.

He didn't extend the Domain. He'd decided that before they ever left the staging facility — no throne, no purple fire consuming the battlefield whole, nothing that would turn this into a repeat of Vasthold where the only meaningful action belonged to him alone. He'd come to watch what these people did when it mattered, and he couldn't watch that from inside a domain that ended the fight before it started.

He drew a single blade instead — Primordial Shadow Creation, plain and unremarkable to anyone who didn't know what it actually was — and let the fight come to him the way it would have come to any other B-rank fighting alongside a team.

---

Yuen moved among the group, breaking from the flank toward the largest of the swarm-creatures with a speed that surprised him

She activated her Celestial Phoenix Bloodline her whole body was engulfed in flames that burned hotter than the sun but she was absolutely fineas she pushed forward heat trailed behind her like a held breath finally released, fire that didn't just burn but *insisted*, refusing to gutter even when a creature's claw raked clean through the flame.

She took a hit across the shoulder that should have staggered her. It didn't. Kai watched the wound close up immediately as if refusing to be scarred by such filthy creatures, the bloodline's rebirth properties doing quiet, efficient work at a scale her own confidence apparently hadn't caught up to yet — she flinched at her own recovery like she still didn't fully trust it.

*Untested,* Kai catalogued. *Talented. Doesn't believe in herself yet.*

But he got shocked once again as yuan jumped into the air phoenix wings spreading out to catch her drift while she held her hand up high as if recreating the iconic pose of one of his best characters escanor from the seven deadly sins.

[Stellar flare- A rank]

Though the beasts where confused on why the prey was suddenly up in the sky but when they looked up their faces were filled with terror as a ball of fire as big as a city was hurling down on them

They could not even run because the sun in the sky had both mass and weight and that weight was what that was pinning them to the ground and stopping them from scattering.

Looking helplessly as their death approached the fire ball finally made impact and it shook the entire realm as it felt like someone had thrown a nuke into a play ground it vaporised another one fifth of the beast horde.

The others had to pull out barriers to ward of the heat and debris flying past them shock filling their faces as they knew that if such a thing was directed at them even they would not come out unscathed that is if they would come out at all.

Cael saw this and also wanted to prove him self he activated his celestial vessel physique

[Decent of the sovereign -A rank]

A throne was conjured out of thin air it was made of solid celestial stone caels body was adorned in royal clothes making his entire being radiate supremacy and power then massive golden domain descended on the battlefield it's range covered over two hundred and fifty metres in diameter cael sat on the throne and it released another wave of power making the beasts caught up in his range hit the floor.

Then cael raised his hands countless golden constructs rose from the ground radiating pressure so intense the beasts turned and fled but cael didn't even give them the time to escape as he uttered three words "slaughter them all" the constructs moved like they were possessed they slaughtered all the beasts in the domain without any shred of mercy wiping out another large part of the beasts numbers

Looking at all these the rest didn't even have to do anything they just watched as the beasts numbers dwindled.

Turns out the boss monster was caught up inside yuens stellar flare and perished with the others not even putting up a fight.

Before ten minutes were up all the beasts were killed and the beast cores were collected.

They regrouped at the perimeter afterward, breathing hard, the adrenaline slowly draining into the particular exhausted relief of a fight survived rather than merely won.

Dess was already moving through the group checking wounds with the brisk efficiency of someone who'd done this a hundred times before Kai ever showed up. She reached him last, professional rather than deferential, and looked him over with the same assessing patience she'd shown from the very first meeting.

"You're not hurt," she said. Not quite a question.

"No."

"You could have ended that in thirty seconds if you'd wanted to."

"Probably," he said.

She studied him for a moment longer.

"But you didn't."

"No," he said. "I wanted to see how they function"

Something in her expression shifted — not warmth exactly, but the first real crack in the careful neutrality she'd been maintaining since the staging hall.

"And?" she said, echoing the question she'd asked him three days ago.

Kai looked around at the group — Cael sitting on a piece of rubble, breathing hard, already turning the fight over in his head the way someone did when they were genuinely trying to learn from it instead of just recovering from it. Yuen staring at her own healed shoulder with something between disbelief and the beginning of real trust in what she carried. Toren and Ilse arguing again, quieter now, gentler, clearly relieved rather than competitive underneath it.

Mira, watching him watch them, waiting for the verdict the way a leader waited to find out if her people had passed an inspection she hadn't fully agreed to in the first place.

"You're worth my time," Kai said.

He didn't elaborate. He didn't need to. He watched the words land across the group the way words landed when they came from someone who'd made it clear, from the very first meeting, that he didn't give them out easily.

Cael looked up from the rubble.

"Does that mean you're actually staying?" he asked. Less hostile than three days ago. Something almost hopeful underneath it.

Kai thought about a coastal city, eight hours alone, nine names he'd never learn. About a stationary presence still watching, still deciding, somewhere far beneath a sea that had gone quiet but not empty.

And even though this turned into a show off match they were not bad

From what he could observe the attacks they unleashed were probably one of the trump cards of their bloodline and it would have burned through their mana like crazy

Kind of like how his domain needed half his mana reserves to activate.

He didn't even get to see how they truly fought in their base form

But even though it turned into a show off match it was actually the right call as killing the beasts one by one would have been suicide and they would have burned through their endurance and mana even faster.

"For now," he said. "Until something bigger needs me somewhere else."

It wasn't a promise. Everyone in the group understood that, and nobody pushed for more than what he'd actually offered.

For the first time in months, that felt like enough.

**To Be Continued…**