Planet Master

171- Confrontation (3)

Then the starry sky was suddenly enveloped in a brown light. This light then formed a sphere which covered the Personal Manifestation of the Great Rat God and the Father God.“As expected of you, employing such a thing for a quick end. Coincidentally, that’s what I want too.” The Father God said.

With the eye of insight, there was nothing that could be hidden from Dian at the same rank. Currently, his prowess was that of an early Rank 3 transcendent according to his civilization’s Transcendent Tree.

But his maximum output was that of the early Rank 4 transcendent but he concealed this fact. Truthfully, Dian could just end things in the first exchange but since the opportunity to use the Personal Manifestation was rare, he went easy on his opponent.

He wanted to see how his opponent used their card combinations to their advantage before ending things as quickly as possible. This was something Dian did not tell the Great Rat God.

Dian looked around and knew that the sphere formed a domain in which the Great Rat God was becoming the sole authority.

But he was not afraid of that. Because in front of absolute strength, all tricks were just a joke. But one thing was for sure, utilizing things more proficiently would prove to be useful.

Even without contacting Tritis, Dian had his own idea about his own card combination.

Furthermore, the Transcendent Tree also empowered him even more. Of course, the opponent also got this if they took both Technology and Transcendent Tree.

But in the exchange just now, Dian felt that the human’s transcendent path was vastly different from the standard of the other races. Feeling it himself for the first time raised more questions than answers.

The sphere of brown covered them, enveloping both of them. Dian felt thankful since the effect of his blow would definitely spread to the entire battlefield. This was a certainty since his power was likely equal to that of a Rank 4 transcendent.

But his opponent’s maximum output was just like what he sensed, Rank 3 transcendent. With such an overwhelming advantage, Dian would win for sure. But the thing he needed was proficiency over his own power.

“Explode!” the Great Rat God voice reverberated as the dozens of walls that were penetrated, as well as the crowded mice from his Personal Manifestation exploded. It was actually a flesh explosion that could cause corrosion and an explosion effect!

Dian was hit straight but since he had the Adaptive Body (D) as one of his cards, his body quickly adapted to the corrosion and explosion. No, it was also resisting the effect greatly since his prowess was that of Rank 4 transcendent.

Overall, Dian was unharmed.

“Do you have any other tricks up your sleeve?” The Father God asked while tilting his head in wonder, a slight smile plastered on his lips.

“Wha-“

Then Dian countered with one of his own. He quickly did numerous thrusts, as if a flap of the butterfly wings. The thrusts were numerous and the Great Rat God tried to evade and block with his staff. But he found out that the Father God’s casual attack was as powerful as his all-out attack.

The fog that covered the body of the Great Rat God was torn asunder with each thrust that Dian made.

The Great Rat God was confused.

There was a flow of energy that leaked out from the Personal Manifestation of the Great Rat God. In the words of a mundane being, that would be akin to blood coming out of their body.

Dian pushed things further, keeping thrusting his spear. This was the technique of the one in his civilization who called himself the Spear Saint.

Hundred Thrust Wave!

That was the technique’s name. It was simple, but the thrust came in waves as if to overwhelm the enemy it faced. It was suited for a one-on-one situation.

The Great Rat God was unable to mount a meaningful resistance but it did not mean he did nothing. No, he focused his energy on his staff. The brown-colored staff then let out a bright and sinister light.

Dian felt that the target of his attack suddenly disappeared from his surroundings.

And with his luck spear thrust, the sphere which enveloped him shattered from the point of contact, spreading to the entire sphere before disappearing completely.

When the Father God once again appeared on the battlefield, there was not a trace of active spaceships, only the remnant of the destroyed ones, becoming space debris surrounding the Father God.

“Oh, there you are.” Dian finally caught sight of his enemy.

The Great Rat God’s appearance was quite pitiful; he looked like a beggar on the dirty street with his tattered cloth and the injury his Personal Manifestation had suffered.

“You…you!” The Great Rat God was truly angry. Now he used another aspect of his power to empower himself. He knew that to defeat the Father God, he needed to be strong himself.

It did not matter how much of his minions he could summon if they could not even affect the Father God in the slightest. That was why the Great Rat God decided to strengthen himself using the reproduced mice as his fuel to increase his power.

“Whoa, you sacrificed your minions?” Dian exclaimed but soon he also realized something.

Dian suddenly had a slight realization.

Then he changed the luck weapon from a spear to something else. It became a rifle that could penetrate thick protection.

Then Dian tested it out. His marksmanship was learned from another human who used only a iron scope to snipe the enemy from far.

A shot was fired, and it penetrated the fog of the Great Rat God, causing him to hiss in pain. But his power still increased.

Early Rank 3.

Mid Rank 3.

Late Rank 3.

Dian felt the pressure from the Great Rat God increasing despite the pain the Great Rat God had suffered. But Dian felt that as long as the Great Rat God did not become a Rank 4 transcendent, he could crush the Great Rat God just like before.

Then Dian changed the luck rifle into a longsword. This time, Dian went and used something else to attack.

Dian raised his hand and swung the longsword, now the attack was not ordinary as it was imbued with something, something that Tatsumi could recognize the moment he saw it.

“Sword intent!” Tatsumi exclaimed the moment he glanced at it.

The Great Rat God’s gaze became sinister as he used his staff and erected a hexagonal brown barrier in front of him.

Then the attack was apparently absorbed and bounced back. Dian’s eyes glowed with insight and could see this clearly. But he did not move any further. He wanted to see whether the barrier could hold all his power and sword intent.

Then he saw the hexagonal barrier slowly but surely crack. Dian’s expression was one of disappointment. He had hoped that the barrier would hold, but it looked like that was just wishful thinking.

Although the attack was being bounced back but the power being bounced back was smaller than the entire whole attack, only causing the attack to be weakened slightly before the barrier shattered and the attack slashed at the Great Rat God.

The Great Rat God screeched in pain. The pain was unlike any other injury he had suffered. It was because sword intent sharpened the attack and caused it to be more deadly.

“Impossible!” the Great Rat God exclaimed with a part anger and nine parts fear.

“What’s impossible in this world anyway?” Dian said nonchalantly as he swung another attack. The sword slash reached the Great Rat God and the Great Rat God then decided to stake everything into an attack.

The Great Rat God did not want to be passive so he quickly cast an incantation in which only he understood and then let out an attack from the edge of his staff.

A brown-colored light beam suddenly appeared. Its strength was apparent, approaching Rank 4 transcendent attack. The casual flying slash attack that Dian had done was finally absorbed by the attack and the light beam continued to reach the Father God.

Dian narrowed his eyes as he used sword intent in his next attack. This time, it was his full-powered attack. The flying slash then appeared near the Father God.

Everyone on the edge of the battlefield was feeling the aftershock of the clash and they knew the safe line from the danger zone.

“It’s over.” Tatsumi could see the result immediately.

Dian’s flying slash attack managed to cleave the brown light beam into two and the flying slash imbued with sword intent hit the Great Rat God.

This time, the Great Rat God was slashed into two; a line formed from the forehead to the bottom, even severing the tail perfectly.

Dian then looked at the disbelief in the eyes of the Great Rat God. Dian knew what he was thinking since the attack was unbelievably strong.

Then the Great Rat God’s Personal Manifestation had suffered damage so severely that it started to dissipate. Slowly from the forehead to the torso, to the tail.

Personal Manifestation was an avatar of the Planet Master imbued with the power of the Transcendent Tree, as well as the Auxiliary Cards they inserted into the available slot. Dian learned this the moment he entered his Personal Manifestation.

“We’ve won! Our Father God is so strong!” one man in the communication channel shouted.

“Glory to the Father God! Glory to the Federation!”

Tatsumi whistled, and Ame put her hands on her chest. It was actually quite a sight to behold. The fight between Planet Master could be that deadly. If not for the Father God’s might, the human race would worry incessantly about its chance at victory.

“Well, now that it’s clear, you all can go and do your own thing.” Dian’s voice reverberated throughout the theater before he, too, canceled the Personal Manifestation.

Just like before, maintaining Personal Manifestation cost energy points. That was why every Planet Master had to use it as effectively and efficiently.

But when one died in this mode, they would get penalties.

The entire battlefield then turned into the Federation’s favor but the Federation decided to go back, since they did not want to be engulfed in whatever problem the Rodents had now.

In the Planet Master Space.

The Great Rat God had returned but the Planet Master System message chilled his heart

[You have died during the Personal Manifestation.]

[Your existence power is waning.]

[Your energy points are deducted for your core existence to keep running.]

“Hah…hah.” The Great Rat God breathed in and out. The experience of death gave him the clearest feelings of his race when facing death. Of course, the fear he had experienced caused him to cower in the face of absolute power.

The Great Rat God thought about it and could not make sense of it.

Then another pillar of light appeared on the opposite side of his throne, showing that the master of that throne had returned.

[You have canceled your Personal Manifestation.]

[The deducted energy points stop decreasing.]

Dian on the other hand enjoyed the feeling of power that overwhelmed his opponent. He also learned to control his luck weapon which could manifest in many form.

Dian nodded while thinking about the sensation and feeling he had when the weapon changed form.

Dian needed to remember that sensation as well as remember his focus and mind during that time. Furthermore, he could test his transcendent knowledge and practical test which was another win for him.

Both sides’ Planet Master subordinates came to them.

“How does it feel to use Personal Manifestation?” Chikara was the first one to ask.

“Well, it really depends on personal enlightenment and understanding.” Dian replied after thinking for some time.

It was a whole other matter than just using the environment to manifest. The power that Dian felt at the time was real, tangible power from the transcendent path as well as from the Auxiliary Card.

“The way you use the luck weapon is superb.” Smirth nodded with a fervent expression.

Especially when Dian used Hundred Thrust Wave, it made Smirth feel like wanting to personally go and battle the Great Rat God.

“It is nothing big. I am rather dull and only understand the many uses of my own weapon. My insight also needs to be developed since it helps me the most during battle.” Dian sighed as he leaned his back against the throne.

“Please rest for a while. We will do the rest.” Frie said with a serene expression.

“Please do. I feel like my existence power is being twisted for a bit.” Dian nodded, agreeing with the suggestion.

“Is it that serious?” Chikara did not expect that the effect of using Personal Manifestation would be this huge.

“As expected from the trump card of the Planet Master.” Leif understood that this was the restriction so that Planet Masters would not abuse this function.

Dian glanced at the opposite side and saw something that was surprising. Even Arowana and Goliath looked at it as if it were something so terrifying.

The Great Rat God was slightly evaporating as his body size became smaller.

“Argh!” The scream and screech of the Great Rat God was reverberating throughout the Planet Master Space, so everyone turned their head toward the source of the voice.

“Master!” his subordinates Planet Masters were surrounding him, channeling their existence power to him, but it only slightly made things better.

Dian thought as he only felt weakened. He was sure that this was only temporary and he would recover. But if it came to the point of being like the Great Rat God, dying in the Personal Manifestation form, the penalties would surely make one wail.

Dian looked at the opposite side, and so did his designated subordinate.

“The existence power…is waning.” The Great Rat God looked at his hand and his upper torso and saw that the existence power which formed his body was now slowly evaporating. The pain was unimaginable even to Dian.

“Quick, stabilize his condition. Otherwise, the existence power will be evaporating more!” the male elf subordinate said and extended his hand, letting out a small amount of existence power.

“Can we even win after this? The way the enemy retreated means that the threat they left will only affect us. The Neurax Worms that we have used have been used by them in return.” The female Lizardfolk subordinate said sadly.

Dian looked at the scene coldly. He actually considered two paths for them. Either they were devoured by him or, like Leif and the others, were turned into subordinates.

He felt the struggle of choosing this time because of the things that the Great Rat God had done. But if he were in the position of the Great Rat God, would he make the same choice?

The answer was that he definitely would. Especially since he found that the opponent was not only more capable in numbers but also strong in the transcendent path.

That was why he did not know whether to spare or to devour. He knew that what the Great Rat God did was extreme but this was Star Battle, where the survival of civilization was at stake. Naturally, doing whatever one could become important.

The fierce battle at the geostationary orbit of Rodentia was over, and now both sides had gained something and lost something.

“Now, we have entered the late stage of the Star Battle.” Frie announced and the rest, including Dian, listened to what she said.

“With the Mega Neurax Worms in the midst of the enemy fleets, they should be busy dealing with that. But we are also retreating from the battlefield. In the overall situation, we have gained a significant advantage and suffered minimal losses.

“Only Rodentia remains as the planet's territory under the enemy. Although we have already taken over Solont, but their territory still ultimately belongs to the Rodents. We just need to end the Star Battle swiftly so that we can become the only legitimate source of governance.”

Frie said that.

She knew that Dian planned to persuade the enemy Star Child to reconsider giving up, otherwise the entire fleet and possibly the civilians in Rodentia would be infected by Mega Neurax Worms.

But it meant that the choice of the enemy race became the very thing that Dian depended on. Frie felt that this was not fine.

“Uhm, certainly, I know that not all of you are comfortable with me relegating the choice of the final result to the enemy.” Dian spoke up, seeing the expression on Frie’s face and the others.

“But remember, I am only giving them this chance once. If it fails, Rodentia will be the brand-new battlefield for our final confrontation. But if the races under the Great Rat God decided to surrender to cure the Mega Neurax Worms, then the Planet Master has the right to surrender.”

Dian would only give someone a chance once. After that, he would be clear of any annoying pretext, and his conscience would be clear.