The restrictions Lucius had placed on the Cardinals and the supreme Gods lifted as they instantly attacked.
Immediately, Lucius found himself surrounded by various sorts of spells, techniques, and energies.
At that moment, time seemed to slow down for Lucius as he noticed an oddity within his body.
In his current state, he was a false mortal.
A false mortal is a being that hasn't evolved past the great realm of mortals yet has the physical and soul strength of beings of higher realms, this didn't mean they could defeat cultivators of the higher tiers since advancements of realms grant more than just physical and soul improvement but they would have massive advantages throughout their cultivation path.
This was all to say that Lucius shouldn't have been able to immobilize these beings let alone snatch their origins with such ease, even now his reaction speed completely exceeded theirs as they moved at a snail's pace for him.
'My eyes…they feel strange. Is this one of my new traits?'
If one looked closely within Lucius's Golden eyes one would be able to see Septillions upon septillions of minuscule, interlinked runes that created an extremely complex formation within his pupils.
At the core of his pupils, two beautiful runes peacefully rotated. One seemed to be a white star that represented perfection and supremacy while the other rune was pitch black and had a circular shape that enveloped the white star, the dark circular rune seemed to represent Infinity and Eternal unity.
As soon as he focused on his pupils he felt a strange authority even he couldn't grasp wash over his soul.
His mortal soul exploded in power and the runes that covered his body and soul reconstructed.
'What just happened…this power..'
He clenched his fists and all the attacks and spells that were headed towards him faded to nothingness.
'I wonder how powerful my pupils will be when I go through my awakening.'
Using the new power that had been granted to his soul, Lucius created a powerful domain that enveloped him and all the beings that had just attacked him.
"It's not fun if you guys use your conceptual powers and stuff while I'm still a mortal. Within this domain, only Qi(Essence) and physical strength is allowed." Announced Lucius as he cracked his neck.
Esther, who was one of the leaders of the Summoned Cardinals, had a grim expression. Unlike the others here he could understand a tiny bit of what the runes on Lucius's body meant.
'He just created a pseudo Principality Domain as a mortal…and these runes are even more complex than the Origin Runes we found in the core of Aethernum…could that mean that he is..'
As he realized how serious of a threat Lucius was Esther decided to make a drastic decision.
"Let's activate the Nirvana Union array." He commanded through his soul link with the other gods and Cardinals.
Under normal circumstances, they would've refused without any hesitation but after Lucius had negated all their most powerful attacks with a clench of his hand and laid his domain, they realized he was leagues above them.
"For the Myriad." Said Orion as his body evaporated into tiny motes of light and gathered in front of Esther's Gigantic body.
All the cardinals and Gods followed suit as they all repeated the slogan of the Protectors.
"For the Myriad."
In front of Esther's body, a large amalgamation of light particles floated.
Without any hesitation, he swallowed it and his body exploded.
"Oh? This is gonna be even better."
Feeling the massive amount of power gathering in front of him, Lucius couldn't help but grin in excitement.
An enormous gate the size of multiple consortiums appeared in front of him.
The doors of the gate opened, the light coming from within flooding the runic space and blinded Lucius for split second.
When Lucius gained his vision back, a powerful and firm hand bathed in green essence was tightly holding his neck, threatening to completely snap it.
The strength this hand was exercising on his neck was terrifyingly powerful as he felt it was able to interact with his existence with sheer physical power alone. The fact that his neck hadn't snapped yet was proof of how strong Lucius's new body was.
The runes on Lucius's body activated and he was teleported a few meters away from the hand. His neck was bloody red as the marks this hand had left wouldn't leave so soon.
Now that he had been able to take some distance, he could finally gaze a the arm's owner.
In front of him stood a man that reeked of power. With short orange hair and muscles that could eclipse stars, the man looked at Lucius with beaming fervor.
His aura seemed to represent the primal need for survival and the constant battle that was life, his eyes burned with never-ending flames of courage and hope as he stood there, he seemed like a hero straight out of a fairy tale.
He wore simple brown pants and a green tunic shirt embroidered with golden and emerald runes. On his back was a gigantic great sword that was even bigger than his already imposing build.
"It's the first time I meet another mortal that can somewhat match my power."
"Greetings, I am Umbra, Son of Hope." He humbly said as he performed a martial bow to Lucius.
Lucius was an extremely prideful man and would never bow down to anyone, no matter how powerful but one of the things he respected the most, was martial etiquette and prowess.
Umbra had already proven himself to be worthy of his bow with his aura alone, so he stood straight and then did the same.
"Greetings, I am Lucius, Son of Perfection."
Before Lucius entered the cultivation world, as a child, he had been raised as a martial artist by his grandfather.
The memories he held of these days were something he cherished so much that even at his peak he kept practicing his skills, this was also one of the reasons he had never given his physical envelope up like what most cultivators did after they reach a certain level.
"AHAHAH! A fellow brother! This is even better!" Happily said Umbra as his aura exploded and his eyes gleamed with a murderous yet pure light.
"Did you forget what you were summoned for ?"
Even though Lucius sounded calm his face couldn't hide his excitement as his aura exploded with just as much power.
He had been longing for a good martial fight and he was finally gonna get it.
"Who cares what they summoned me for? They're dead anyway. Now let's get started!"
The void trembled as the faraway heavens showered the world with hymns of glory and conquest.
A clash of titans was about to take place.