Stan's POV
Belos observed my outstretched hand for a moment. A heavy silence hung in the room, finally broken by my voice.
"Well? Will you continue to lead this dimension to its ruin, including yourself, or will you seize this opportunity offered to you?"
*Slap*, the sound of a slap hitting my outstretched hand.
"Get out, I don't care about your promises and proposals. This place belongs to me, so I'd ask you to leave."
I couldn't help but sigh. We were at an impasse, both of us.
On one hand, I need to freely explore the Boiling Isles and study ALL their knowledge, which is impossible without the cooperation of the natives under Belos.
On the other hand, I want to change things here because of my ethical viewpoint, but that doesn't go in the direction desired by the local representative, aka Belos.
This whole situation is pushing me to have to bring democracy to this dimension, like the good American I am, and convince Belos to "share" his resources with me.
"I'm sad it has to come to this." No sooner had I finished my words than Belos was frozen in ice.
I immediately shattered the ice with a punch, putting a good portion of my strength into it. You have to understand that the world record for deadlift is about 500 kg, but I can personally go up to ten times that.
I'm literally five times stronger than an average adult gorilla, and Belos just took a force of about 5 tons to the face.
*Splash*
A black substance spread all over Belos's throne after my punch, which even broke the sound barrier.
Anyway, I had planned to test my full power in this reality. I had already decided to take the Collector with me, with or without Belos's agreement.
Our relationship could have been resolved peacefully if Belos had accepted my offer of submission. I just wanted resources, not his life or his complete authority.
As I approached Belos, I felt a strange wave spreading in various directions.
I recorded it and tried to analyze it.
[Lilith, call the coven heads, it's urgent.]
I see, he wants to gather his best elements to defeat me?
He's not arrogant enough to face me alone. It's really a shame that I have to seal this guy or lock him up somewhere to study him.
I really want to see if I can create an entity similar to him without having to sacrifice palismen.
"Stop playing dead or I'll destroy this entire castle." I spoke without emotion, looking at the black substance on the floor.
Of course, I wasn't going to destroy this castle. I need the Titan's heart and I want to free the creatures in the basement, not to mention the Collector.
However, Belos doesn't really know how much I care about this place or that thing above his throne.
As expected, Belos immediately rushed towards me. He was flailing a bit like a symbiote from the Marvel universe, but the moment he touched me...
He was abruptly frozen by an ice glyph before suffering a massive electrical discharge from my nuclear reactor.
"Without your staff, you're too weakened. I can also sense that each time I smash you, you lose a bit of your rationality."
I shook my head from left to right, displaying genuine disappointment. This man managed to dominate a magical universe without possessing true magic, but by borrowing that of the Titan.
Although racist, Belos is a truly intelligent individual. A real waste.
"You relied too much on the magic of this world. In the end, you neglected the science that allowed humans to dominate Earth, your home world, and you neglected the potential of your own body." I advanced towards the pitiful shapeless creature on the ground.
"Finally, I'll have to find someone who will make a better ruler than you." I actually want to control all the resources of the Boiling Isles, but becoming the new emperor seems tedious.
I would only become it if I can't find anyone powerful enough to suppress any will of rebellion from the natives against my influence.
Of course, it's not a dictatorship, since I just want the resources of the Boiling Isles. The rest isn't really my problem as long as it doesn't cross a certain ethical limit.
*Boom* As I approached to capture the gooey creature that Belos has become, I suffered an attack from the ground.
It was a plant that suddenly emerged and brutally embraced me. Of course, this pitiful attempt was easily destroyed by my flames, coming from the fire glyph.
"What have you done to the emperor?" An authoritative voice resonated not far from my location.
I looked towards its source. I couldn't help but sketch a predatory smile after my observation.
They're here, the most powerful witches of the Boiling Isles, the coven heads, accompanied by Lilith and the golden guard.
(Image)
It seems that Belos's messages weren't sent in vain.
"Haha... you were arrogant, and now you'll have to face the power of..." Belos couldn't finish his sentence, because I shot a laser beam into his mouth using my finger like a gun.
It's just a simple use of the light glyph, the most versatile, accompanied by that of the plant.
I turned completely towards my new opponents after putting Belos out of action. I observed them one by one to assess their threat level based on my knowledge of their respective domains.
As I observed them, I noticed that one of them was an illusion, and the real one was slowly moving towards number 5.
I immediately used a light glyph to create a luminous shield above me, floating just above my head.
I immediately used it to capture the new number 5 and bring him close to me.
"Honestly, is this how you use illusions?" I said, looking with disdain at this individual supposed to be the most powerful illusionist of this dimension.
I remember that Gus had managed to plunge him into nightmares using his memories as a basis, but this guy was just doing some sleight of hand.
You have to understand that as a fan of fictional works, I know how terrifying illusions can become, and seeing this guy waste this magic annoys me.
"Stop beating around the bush, where is Emperor Belos?" Lilith's voice repeated. She doesn't seem to understand that I just neutralized her beloved boss.
I smiled at her before pointing my finger at her, like with Belos. Of course, they had seen how Belos's skull in his monstrous form had burst.
Lilith immediately raised a shield to protect the other coven heads, but she made a miscalculation.
*Splash* A sound of blood flowing.
"Oracle magic is really fascinating, it allows manipulating energy and spirits for various results, like creating shields or even having abilities like telepathy or telekinesis, but you severely lack imagination."
Did she really think I was going to fire the same thing she had seen with the other coven heads?
Hell no, I don't underestimate these witches who have reached the pinnacle of their respective arts.
The attack I launched on Belos was just a laser beam based on densified photon particles, a bit like Admiral Borsalino's attack, but the one I sent on Lilith is similar to Piccolo's beam.
It's literally a beam projected at the speed of light, concentrated and spiral. It's not a banal magic shield that can stop that.
At minimum, you'd need an extremely dense and concentrated shield to hope to stop it, a bit like Frieren's defensive magic.
"Cough... you bastard, you tricked me." Lilith gritted her teeth while the head of the healing coven was treating her.
"Tricked you? No, you were just stupid to have the arrogance to try to anticipate the actions of an opponent you know nothing about." I started to operate all my hearts at full capacity for the first time since the creation of this body.
My pupils turned to a combination of gold and black, like Luz's, and my chest began to glow with a greenish light displaying the prophecy symbol representing Stan.
This glow came from the radiation of my nuclear reactor.
I could also feel my artificial muscles refining. Young Stan is already muscular by default, but now I have a slimmer silhouette due to the extreme densification of my muscles, already denser than normal.
*Blur* A sound of steam escaping from my body.
"Please don't die. It would be difficult to find individuals competent enough to replace you." My voice became hoarser as I observed my opponents, who were visibly alarmed.
This form is exaggerated for them but, I need absolute domination to make them submit.