A few minutes before the red dimensional gate opened...
"Our greatest fears have happened." Laplace Demon looked at the beam of light that shot toward the sky, opening a gate to a world that had long wished to conquer another.
"Right," The One replied.
"Have you already made a decision, Your Excellency?" Laplace Demon asked.
"Yes," The One answered.
Laplace Demon no longer said anything, for nothing more could be said. The God of Wanderers had decided to intervene, which would mean that it would pay a price equivalent to its cause and effect.
There was a reason why the Gods of the Temple of Ten Thousand Gods couldn’t indirectly affect the world of the mortals.
Even Gods were subjected to Karma.
If it passed a certain threshold, it might cause them to slowly lose their divinity or lose it all at once.
The Gods who ignored these rules and broke them as if they couldn’t be bothered might seem okay on the surface.
But sooner or later, they would be consumed and warp into monsters that would no longer retain any consciousness.
They would simply become mindless abominations, which the other Gods would team up to kill.
When the System God tried to capture Thirteen and bring him back to the Celestial Realm, he was still within his rights because Thirteen was his "son," and he was also the one who brought him to Pangea.
Of course, he only had a limited time frame to descend into a world that was ruled by another God.
He had used up his time properly, and although he went overboard a bit, he only lost a bit of divinity, which would recover in a few years.
For Gods who had nearly infinite lives, a few years was akin to taking a nap.
It was a calculated risk, so aside from embarrassment and shame, the System God didn’t really suffer any lasting consequences from his attempt to capture his son to take him back home.
Just as Laplace Demon heaved a deep sigh, a voice filled with amusement reached his ears.
"Oh, so you’ve finally grown a backbone? Color me impressed."
Metatron appeared within the Domain of the God of Wanderers, making Laplace Demon frown.
"You shouldn’t be here at this time, Your Excellency," Laplace Demon said respectfully.
Despite outstanding strength, Laplace Demon was merely a Pseudo-God, which was still weaker than True Gods like The One and Metatron.
Metatron ignored the Laplace Demon and simply stared down at Pangea, his arms crossed over his chest.
He was very curious as to what The One would do to protect his world from a being who would break the balance of the world.
The One also didn’t say anything and simply waited for the right moment.
Due to Thirteen’s and the Wanderers’ actions, the God deemed that Humanity deserved a second chance to protect itself.
A few minutes later...
The Artemian King smiled faintly as he gazed down upon the battlefield.
Knowing that the defenders of Pangea and his rivals were all gathered in one place, King Astrion knew that this was the perfect opportunity to annihilate them all and claim this world as his own.
"I don’t need pests in my new kingdom," King Astrion stated before throwing the giant red spear that crackled with power at the Planar Mountain Range.
All of them instinctively knew that no one present could possibly block the attack strong enough to potentially wipe out the entire Planar Mountain Range, obliterating anything within its strike range.
Erica, who was hovering in the sky, was in the direct path of the red lightning bolt.
Time seemed to have slowed down as she gazed at the deadly strike that would end her life and everyone else’s.
Her life flashed before her eyes, and through those memories, she saw herself being by Zion’s side, which were the happiest moments in her life.
Erica didn’t avert her gaze or close her eyes.
She stared at her impending death bravely because she felt that if she didn’t do so, Zion would tease her in the afterlife.
As the red lightning bolt neared the Sorceress, something unexpected happened.
A giant clawed hand emerged out of nowhere and caught the red lightning bolt in place.
Its tip was only a meter away from Erica’s chest, still radiating with a deadly power that would turn her into ash if she were to get touched by it.
A moment later, the giant clawed hand crushed the red lightning bolt, shattering it completely.
Everyone was too shocked to react to what had just happened, except for the Artemian King, who narrowed his eyes.
His gaze landed on the red dimensional gate that appeared out of nowhere and the single clawed hand that had emerged from it.
The clawed hand withdrew and returned to the dimensional gate. However, a few seconds later, the tip of two clawed hands crossed over the dimensional gate and held its edges.
The red dimensional gate was only five to six meters tall, and the tip of the giant claws could barely fit through it.
Suddenly, a deep, bone-rattling groan echoed across the battlefield as the claws started pulling the gate apart.
Cracks appeared across the dimensional gate, as if the very fabric of space was screaming in protest.
The air grew heavier, suffocating, as if something wild and savage on the other side of the gate was exerting its will, unconcerned with the delicate balance of this plane.
The dimensional gate shuddered violently, but the claws relentlessly wrenched at its edges, applying brute, primal force to tear it wider.
Space twisted, the sky above distorted like a broken mirror as the boundary between worlds began to collapse.
The rift resisted, but it was in vain.
With a sound like a mountain cracking apart, a fissure ripped along the sides of the gate, extending far beyond its original frame. The crimson glow intensified, now a roaring, seething maelstrom of chaotic energy that threatened to swallow everything whole.
A screech of primal fury reverberated in the surroundings as a creature emerged from the broken gate.
Camazotz, who was still seriously injured, smiled widely as his gaze landed on the giant monsters, who had forcefully broken through the gap between two worlds, not caring who it was about to face on the other side.
It wasn’t only the Death Bat who felt this way.
Cristopher and Rianna smiled faintly as they looked at the Honey Badger, whom they had fought alongside in the past.
Of course, there were also the Wanderers from the Valbarra and Arcadia Archipelago who recognized Cranky.
But even if they knew the Honey Badger, they weren’t sure if its appearance would be able to turn the tide of battle. After all, the presence that the Artemian King was releasing was that of a High-Archon.
But to those familiar with the savage yet caring monster who liked to take a nap beside Zion’s statue in the Valbarra Archipelago, all they felt was gratitude.
A very dependable ally had appeared to stand on their side.
Cranky, the Savage Lightning Emperor Honey Badger, roared, announcing its presence to the world.
The Jinns instinctively knew how strong it was, making even the Azothralls, who were hailed as the perfect killing machines, shudder as their instincts screamed that the giant creature was something they shouldn’t offend no matter what.
Cranky sensed something and shifted its gaze in the direction of Zed, who was carrying a capsule in his arms.
The Honey Badger recognized the scent of its friend and was immediately enraged when it sensed that Zion was unconscious.
Its screech echoed across the land, and the world answered its will!
Dark clouds covered the sky, and the Artemians, who earlier thought that they had already won the war, shuddered as the booming sound of countless thunderclaps made them stagger from where they hovered.
Cranky roared, and the world roared with it.
For a brief moment, everyone thought that the very air itself would shatter due to how intense its roar was.
Its anger and fury spiked as it gazed at the person who had made its best friend suffer.
The Honey Badger didn’t care if it was going to fight against Majin Kings or even the Gods themselves.
It walked forward, lightning bolts crawling around its body like snakes.
Behind his back, the Warriors of the Valbarra Archipelago surged forward.
The Barbarian King, the Tigerkin King, the Ogre King, the Troll King, and the Orc King all made their presence known.
They were all Rank 9 Sovereigns, and their army marched behind them.
Metatron clapped his hands when he saw this scene, knowing that it was none other than The One who had orchestrated this outcome.
"Bravo!" Metatron praised his rival, his eyes blazing with excitement. "Now, this is a fight worth watching!"
And just like what the God of the Apocalypse had declared, a face-off between two powerhouses whose Ranks were nearly equal to each other was about to take center stage.