"Surprised that I have so many supporters at my side? Are you confused where so many SS- rankers suddenly come from?"
"The answer is simple: we are inside the spire of Ascension; here Alverto has the power to turn his strongest subordinates that were already at peak S rank into genuine SS-rankers!" "Quite the convenient ability, right?"
All twelve SS-rankers that appeared were forcefully ascended to rank SS, but unlike normal, these twelve have 'World Authority', thus they are all genuine SS-rankers right now.
"I see... This Alverto guy, he's really got some tricks up his sleeves; are you really sure you will be able to defeat him though?"
Hearing that question, Neo smirked,
"Don't worry, after dealing with you, I will use the forbidden magic and become powerful enough to deal with the entire world, let alone him..."
Although those twelve were Alverto's subordinates, excessive forbidden magic usage and forceful ascension still caused some side effects; all of them have lost their mind, will, and consciousness.
They are more like living corpses; Neo is the one who's using them, just like how he uses summoned beasts!
That's why, even if Neo insults Alverto right in front of them, they can't do anything, and they can't disobey him as they don't have a free will of their own.
They are just puppets created to fight and can be disposed of at any moment.
Still, puppet or not, they don't lack in terms of power.
[World Authority: Bane of Light!]
One of the SS-ranker puppets aimed its finger at Ashtel, and three others placed their hands on his back.
The three others not only used their own mana to enhance the world authority of the 'Light' one in front, they also used their own world authority to enhance the damage.
[World Authority: Flowing Space!]
Flowing space is a weaker version for a space-type world authority, but for support-type, this one's very effective.
When used in sync with an attack, it grants the attack the power to 'ignore' the shackles of the space-time fabric.
In other words, when blessed with this world authority, 'Bane of Light' can surpass its limits and go beyond the 'Speed of Light' itself!
[World Authority: Wind Embrace!]
Wind Embrace seems like a useless authority in empty space where there's no wind, but keep in mind that 'wind' itself is nothing but the movement of particles in the surroundings.
When blessed with this authority's support, the attack is granted support of the atoms, molecules, and all elementals present in the surroundings!
In theory, this world authority literally grants you the supporting hand of the 'world' itself! [World Authority: Radiation of Rot!]
Usually, most people awaken world authorities's that are related to their elements, but some are unique, so people end up awakening world authorities that are completely bizarre!
'Radiation of Rot' grants a massive debuff effect to the attack if an attack blessed by this world authority hits someone.
They will lose '80%' of their 'Mental' capabilities, and nearly '95%' skills will instantly enter an 'indefinite' cooldown period.
In other words, if you get hit by this even once, you lose nearly all of your skills for good until either the user consciously deactivates the debuff or the user is killed off, thus destroying the effects of the world authority.
"This is a test shot, Ashtel; let's see if you are still confident enough after this one..."
A smirk appeared on Neo's face as he used four 'world authorities' to combine into one powerful attack.
'World Authorities' are the skills that define the existence of a 'Demi-god', and four of them combined to launch a single attack is enough to shatter the space-time fabric and bypass any defensive attack.
"Here, take this and tell me how it feels!"
Neo waved his finger, and that combination of world authority was fired at Ashtel.
*BOOOM!*
An extremely thin beam of light, the size of a needle, was launched at Ashtel.
It's not that it lacked power; it's just that it was concentrated to the point that it wasted nearly no amount of energy, thus it didn't even disturb the atmosphere around it.
But its mere presence caused the space-time fabric to bend forcefully.
*CRACK!* *SHATTER!*
Wherever that beam of light passed by, it shattered the space-time fabric like glass and surpassed the speed of light in an instant.
It was so fast that it was impossible to even see it, as even the photons that make up light are slower than it.
*BOOOM!*
Unlike what Neo was expecting, Ashtel didn't dodge at all; he just stood there and waited.
The attack hit him in an instant, and space-time fabric collapsed.
But something even more shocking happened: when the beam of light was only a few centimeters away from Ashtel, it burst apart and flew away in several different directions.
*BOOOOM!*
The entire planet split apart in five pieces as one of the broken beam particles hit the ground and shattered the core of the planet in a mere nanosecond.
The broken pieces of the planet flew away in all directions and at immense speed, and the moon of the planet also lost its orbit and flew away at an insanely high speed like a ball thrown by a professional bowler!
All this happened, but Ashtel just stood there silently as if that had nothing to do with him at
all.
"Yawwwn... hmm? A test shot? Where is it? It seems like it didn't reach me; I don't actually feel anything... Have you even attacked yet?"
Ashtel smirked and pretended to be yawning on purpose.
His nonchalant behavior caused blood veins to appear on Neo's face.
"You have become stronger again?"
The battle of 'World Authorities' is actually much simpler than any other kind of battle.
{The 'World Authority' with more 'Authority' over the 'World' wins...}
This is the simple rule that every 'World Authority' follows in this world.
No matter how heaven defying and how much of a big shot you are, if your world authority is
of 'low level', then you can never win against an SS-ranker who has a higher world authority
level.
Neo is not an idiot; he knew this from the start, but he also knew that this thing can be
countered.
You can theoretically bend this 'rule' to your favor without going against it.
If you combine several world authorities together, it makes them stronger, and if you attack
in that state, then the 'world' registers that attack as something that was fired by a 'high level' world authority.
This is the reason why no one in the world alliance dares to say that they can 'solo' the entire
world alliance.
If you combine the might of dozens of SS-rankers, theoretically the attack fired from that combination will be something so strong that even the Dragon King Idri might not be able to
withstand it.
This is the reason why Neo brought twelve extra SS-rankers with him, despite them being only at the level of early SS-rankers.
Although they can't fight Ashtel in terms of skills and mastery over combat, they can at least pressure Ashtel with their combined might!
Neo had originally speculated that four world authorities should be able to deal with Ashtel, but that speculation has been completely shattered now.
"Well, I have a cute little daughter-in-law; she is quite the troublemaker, but I can't complain; she's just that good... even I am in her debt now, no wonder that Kid Link is so
obsessed with her nowadays..."
"That sight of the 'World' protecting her with its own hands was something truly 'transcendent'... It would have been stranger if I didn't improve even a little bit after seeing
such a sight..."
SS-rankers don't believe in 'Gods', 'origins' and stuff that has no real presence in the world.
Instead, they believe that the 'world' itself is the only thing that's above them, and no one else is worthy enough.
From Ashtel's point of view, the 'world', which is basically the 'god', the 'reality' and the 'truth of existence' of this cosmos, was right in front of him at that brief moment.
Just seeing that sight was enough to enlighten him about the 'workings' of the world and its
laws.
"Tch, it doesn't matter; I will just add more firepower!"
Neo waved his hand. All of the twelve SS-rankers used their world authority at the same time,
and just for assurance, Neo also added his own world authority in the mix.
[World Authority: Mana Flow!]
Seeing so many world authorities aimed at him, Ashtel smiled in amusement.
"Quite the impatient one, aren't you? I thought you would use the combination of 8 first and
then go to full power later..."
"Well whatever, I also want to see how much I have improved... Here, fire it right here at my shoulders; they have been a bit stiff lately..."
Neo was trying to pressure and intimidate him, but Ashtel refused to give a single sh*t about
that!
The more Ashtel talked, the more irritated Neo got from that nonchalant behavior.
"Laugh as much as you can now, Ashtel; soon your entire upper body will be turned into
nothingness and you will become unable to laugh!"
[World Authority Combination: 13 Nodes: Quasar of Calamity!]
*BOOOM!*
With the help of the power of thirteen world authorities, Neo literally had enough power to
put a black hole to shame; he fired a gigantic 'Quasar' at Ashtel.
The immense concentration of mana was so strong that the quasar literally 'dug a hole' in the space-time fabric, opened a 'wormhole' by force, and traveled forward in 'Time' to attack Ashtel before he could even see the attack move!
To all this, Ashtel's reaction was simple, [World Authority: Shockwave]