Ch.178178. Resistance in the Spirit Realm

During the peak update period of D&A, Dungeon & Adventure.

The developers updated the world setting, essentially creating a new era for the Basic Middle Fantasy universe.

This update had the largest file size among all updates at that time, accounting for a whopping 30% compared to the continuously updated base timeline.

Given its scope, this highly anticipated update received the following assessment immediately after the patch was applied:

While it felt somewhat sparse and empty in places, it definitely guaranteed one thing: fun.

Despite some disappointing aspects and ambiguous elements, the massive content volume still managed to meet expectations.

However, among all the excellent features, one particular aspect received harsh criticism: the strategy for conquering the Divine Realm of Yupiterius, the final boss of the Old Pantheon.

People were outraged when they discovered that despite facing an insane army of 5 million troops, players were supposedly only allowed to use low-tier minions to conquer it… naturally, chaos ensued.

Frankly speaking, there was no way to build an army capable of defeating those 5 million enemies.

Moreover, each of those 5 million was comparable to a Grade 7 entity, and the elite corps of 10,000 were said to be the strongest low-tier minions ever introduced.

Realizing this couldn’t be conquered through conventional methods, players began seeking alternative routes using various cheat-like special abilities.

Then one day, a user who had been persistently attempting to breach the passage posted a success story on the community forum.

The content was extremely simple:

※ ※ ※

Broke through the passage.

Draw aggro and exit the passage, they follow but get stuck.

※ ※ ※

Naturally, this absurd revelation and the accompanying video shook the community. After countless veteran players replicated the video, players including myself finally understood the cause.

It was essentially a bug.

The 5 million troops were originally programmed to be unable to leave the passage, implemented as an invisible wall at the entrance that only applied to them.

If you managed to exit the passage while having drawn their aggro, they would rush after you but get blocked by the wall.

Since they remained aggro’d, they would continue targeting you but couldn’t reach you, creating a peculiar situation.

While direct attacks from outside were blocked, preventing any conventional offensive strategy…

What if poison gas were introduced?

Within Dungeon & Adventure, among the objects a god could create was “Poison Mist,” commonly referred to as poison gas.

While all other poison air types were classified as “magical by-products,” only this Poison Mist was categorized as “air” in the object classification.

As a result, Poison Mist could pass through many barriers… though before this strategy was discovered, it had been ignored due to its low damage output.

Most users—even the developers—had completely forgotten about Poison Mist. Who would have thought?

That this Poison Mist could pass through the invisible wall blocking the passage.

Naturally, the damage dealt this way was extremely low, but the soldiers inside had almost no regenerative special abilities. Therefore, given enough time—they could be completely annihilated.

The low-tier soldiers gradually succumbed to the Poison Mist’s toxicity.

No matter how high their resistance, they would slowly become poisoned, meaning that with sufficient time, they could be killed.

And so, the 500 million troops carrying the history of the Pantheon fell pathetically before the Poison Mist.

※ ※ ※

I breached the poison-filled passage using a specially created minion.

A creature born solely for this purpose—capable of sprinting through the incredible distance of about 20km in under 10 minutes and completely immune to poison.

The moment I succeeded in getting it across to the other side of the passage, I gained the ability to transfer my forces to Yupiterius’s Divine Realm without using the passage…

But since this passage was the only defense protecting Yupiterius’s Divine Realm, what happened from here on didn’t really matter much.

One might wonder:

How could the supposed highest god of the Pantheon protect his Divine Realm with just a single passage?

It’s a reasonable question, and the answer is simple.

The moment this passage was breached, the Pantheon was already finished.

The location connected to Yupiterius’s Divine Realm is none other than the Pantheon’s council chamber, which itself serves as a protective element.

To attack Yupiterius’s Divine Realm, one must enter the Pantheon’s council chamber, which would naturally result in being attacked by the 12 major gods and hundreds of other deities present there.

Obviously, even I in my current strengthened state couldn’t defeat the attacks of more than 20 high-ranking gods and hundreds of lesser gods.

There’s another important reason as well, but it’s not particularly relevant right now… so let’s move on.

Anyway, after finally breaking through the passage leading to the Divine Realm, I began transferring my consciousness to Yupiterius’s domain.

My goal was to manifest a physical body, just like when I participated in the Evil Gods’ council.

After a moment of distorted, twisted vision, I somehow arrived in the Divine Realm with a temporary physical body, and the scenery of Yupiterius’s domain began to appear before my eyes.

A bright, refreshingly blue, cloudless sky stretched high above, while the ground was replaced not with soil but with fluffy clouds.

It felt soft like cotton, yet strangely firm enough to hold my feet in place.

As I was momentarily appreciating this sensation in various ways, I turned my head to see Greek and Roman-style temple buildings constructed on this cloud-floor.

Buildings made of marble decorated with divine gold (orichalcum) on the exterior, and angels moving about with anxious steps.

They seemed to be carrying out their duties while nervously conversing with each other, but the moment I appeared before them in my red robe…

[[[[[Kyaa, aaaaaaaaaaa———!!!]]]]]

The angels—minions of the Pantheon—who recognized my identity, dropped their documents and screamed in terror, trying to flee in all directions.

《Oops, where do you think you’re going?》

Of course, there was no reason I couldn’t kill these angels, most of whom were merely mid-tier at best, nor was there any reason to let them escape.

Swoosh!!

[W-what is thi…. no, no, NO!! I, I don’t want to d———]

———Slash!!!

So I restrained the fluttering angels with blood bindings, then executed them all by firing blood blades at them.

Unfortunately, since these angels were artificial souls created according to divine necessity, they bled golden liquid instead of blood when killed, which was somewhat unpleasant…

Well, it was somewhat acceptable.

Anyway, after briefly observing the golden liquid splattered on the once-white clouds, I moved forward, leaving behind the angels who were dispersing into spirit particles.

My target was the massive temple visible beyond the clouds above—the Divine King’s Palace where Yupiterius resided.

Believing the time it would take to reach there was fixed regardless of my pace, I walked leisurely, feeling no need to hurry.

Squish!

Slash!

Slash! Slash! Slash!

Along the way, I continued executing any angels I sensed, breaking down their souls and devouring them deliciously.

Meanwhile, news of my arrival had spread throughout the Divine Realm.

Naturally, the forces stationed in the realm appeared to stop me.

A force of 120 high-tier entities emerged from Roman Empire history—30 supreme forces and 90 high-tier angels, the strongest of their kind.

This group, which even included two former emperors, would certainly be unbeatable if I were using a minion army, but…

CRACK!!

Before a god, they were nothing—their heads simply exploded, and leaving their collapsing corpses behind, I finally arrived right in front of the Divine King’s Palace.

Step, step, step.

The Divine King’s Palace, devoid of any sign of life.

I boldly entered through the main gate and proceeded inside, following the carpet laid on the floor.

Climbing the stairs, a total of 11 times.

Thus, I arrived right outside the reception hall of the Divine King’s Palace, where Yupiterius himself would be.