The People's God: Sacrificing Trillions to Ascend

Chapter 822 - Fetterbane Dragonforge

Dying was easy for Han Wu. Making it convincing, though, required preparation and the right connections. He knew plenty of high-level contacts, but the Slaughter God King had almost certainly already identified them. Reaching out to any of them carelessly would set off alarm bells. If the ruse were exposed, the whole scheme would collapse. He needed someone suitable to “kill”him.

Since he had no candidates of his own, Han Wu considered his options and ultimately contacted Commerce, whose network within the Wisdom Faction was the most extensive, to come up with a solution.

Commerce arrived quickly after receiving Han Wu’s invitation. After hearing the plan, he couldn’t help giving a thumbs-up. The idea was brilliant. Faking Han Wu’s death to swindle 30 million Divine Essence from the Slaughter Faction cost them nothing while offering enormous profit in return.

There was no way Commerce would sit this one out. Still, business was business even between close friends. He wouldn’t contribute his efforts for nothing.

After negotiating the terms, they reached an agreement. If the scheme succeeded, Han Wu would pay Commerce 1 million Divine Essence as his fee. If it failed, neither side would gain anything. Han Wu didn’t care how much Commerce would spend to make it happen. All that mattered was that the plan proceeded smoothly.

Within a single day, Commerce found the right candidate. That individual came from another civilization and had cooperated with Commerce before, making them a trustworthy partner. Their civilization had also suffered the Butcher’s invasion in the past, which meant they hated the Slaughter Faction deeply enough that there was absolutely no risk of them leaking the plan. Most importantly, this partner was genuinely powerful. If Han Wu didn’t use any of his Divine Jurisdictions, this person could realistically kill him.

Satisfied with the choice, Han Wu activated Avatar Creation and split off a copy of himself that possessed the 567 Martial Castes’ powers. That avatar then created another minor avatar. This final avatar represented an almost negligible fraction of Han Wu’s total self. Even if it died, Han Wu would suffer no real damage and could recover after a short rest.

That confidence was what made the fake-death scheme viable. The partner killed the avatar, then received instructions from Commerce, and brought Han Wu’s head to the Slaughter Faction to claim the bounty.

The Slaughter Faction reacted with both excitement and caution when someone arrived with Han Wu’s head. After a series of verifications, they concluded that the head did indeed belong to Han Wu. Only one detail seemed unusual. The power reading detected from the head was unusually low.

The partner had already prepared an explanation. They claimed to have used a secret technique to seal Han Wu’s power before killing him.

The Slaughter Faction accepted the explanation without suspicion. To prove that the faction honored its promises, they even held a ceremony to award the payment.

Once the partner received the money, they kept only their agreed share with Commerce and returned the rest. It wasn’t as if the partner had never considered taking the entire reward. Before accepting the job, they had also signed an agreement with Commerce. Breaking it would invite consequences they couldn’t afford to bear.

In the end, Han Wu’s “death”netted him 29 million Divine Essence and a period of peace. He used that time to pour immense resources, Divine Essence, and countless hours into researching Demon King Transformation Stage Three.

While studying the Five Element Seal Arts, Han Wu used his V-form’s astronomical computation power to analyze every detail of the seal. The twelve-Ring Five Element Seal was now fully under his control, ready for use whenever he wished.

However, the deeper he delved into it, the more a new idea took shape. Why do I need to activate it manually? I want to create a self-sustaining Five Element Seal barrier that operates continuously without requiring any direct input from me.

Every elemental barrier required a core. Han Wu took out his Divine Weapons, excluding Locust-V, which had fused with the Machine God.

Of the nine powerful Divine Weapons, Han Wu assigned the Heavenly Demon Spike, Gluttonswarm Ring, Small Locust Blade, Explosive Locust Blade, and Giant Locust Blade as the five elemental cores representing Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth, respectively.

The Dark Curse Nail, Locust Soul Orb, Abyss Armor, and Locust Dragon Seal couldn’t be integrated into the seal, so Han Wu kept them close in reserve.

Half a month passed as he devoted himself to research day and night. Guided by his core calculations, Han Wu finally completed the framework for Demon King Transformation Stage Three.

He cautiously activated Demon King Transformation Stage Three, and he underwent a massive transformation. demonic energy, Dragon Fear, pure mechanical aspects, his Divine Weapons, the power of the Seal Arts, and the presence of the Divine Jurisdictions erupted simultaneously.

He transformed into a colossal monster standing 100,000 meters tall. A dark-gold metallic shell enveloped him, blending the traits of demon, dragon, and machine. He resembled a mechanically forged demon dragon, and he exuded an overwhelmingly domineering aura.

Nine Divine Weapons floated around him. Five of them automatically activated the Five Element Seal Arts, targeting every enemy life form within a ten-kilometer radius.

The moment an enemy approached, the Five Element Seal would trigger. Those caught within it would, at minimum, suffer severe suppression of their powers. At worst, they would be sealed completely and reduced to an energy source for Han Wu to siphon from.

The barrier’s greatest advantage was its ability to eliminate large numbers of ordinary units without requiring any effort from Han Wu. Its drawback, however, was its limited effectiveness against World opponents unless Han Wu personally activated the Five Element Seal.

Beyond the barrier, the full range of applications offered by his two Divine Jurisdictions and his numerous abilities still remained for Han Wu to uncover through actual combat.

Even while standing motionless in this form, Han Wu could already sense that his power had surpassed the Microcosm tier and reached a new level. In theory, it could be classified as Subcosm rank.

Han Wu carefully considered this extraordinary form before finally settling on an improved name for it: Demon King Transformation Stage Three, the Fetterbane Dragonforge!

Fetter represented the sealed aspect; bane symbolized demons and demonic energy; dragon embodied the Great Dragons’ essence; and forge represented the mechanical aspect, the Divine Weapons, and the infinite possibilities.

Han Wu clenched his fist and felt the surging energy inside him. “This divine war ends with me.”

With a frame spanning 100,000 meters, even his quietest words carried the force of a heavenly thunderclap. Every unit across his various Microcosms sensed the enormous power radiating from him and knelt in reverence, stirred by their God’s presence.

Even the Origin of Mutation, which had been conducting an experiment in its lab, quickly set aside its work and rushed out to see what was happening.

“Vessel, why can’t I detect your genes? This form is absolutely incredible. Would you let me study it? I promise I won’t dismantle you into spare parts!” the Origin of Mutation called out excitedly.

“Go play somewhere else,” Han Wu answered without missing a beat.

“So petty!” the Origin of Mutation grumbled. But it soon noticed the newly living V. Compared to Han Wu, V appeared weaker, yet his structure matched Han Wu’s post-transformation body. There wasn’t a trace of genetic material anywhere.

“New friend, can I study you?” the Origin of Mutation asked with a chuckle.

V showed no irritation at all. If anything, he sounded eager. “Really? Then I want all the data you collect during the study!”

“Deal!” the Origin of Mutation replied delightedly.