CHAPTER 503: CHAPTER 384: AUTHORITY: DIVINITY STRIPPING!_2

By the Fourth Order, one’s whims became reality. Even an accusation as absurd as "stepping into the door with the left foot first" could be declared valid—a practice Byron jokingly referred to as "fabricated charges."

Once it reached the Fifth Order [King’s Title], even a casual remark like, "Starting tomorrow, I will exercise the right of the first night, prioritizing the young and beautiful," would immediately become reality.

But the consequences of such actions had to be borne by oneself.

If one destroyed the foundation of the people’s Willing Power, their own Royal Iron Law would cease to exist.

Compared to the various Sequences of the Ladder of Glory, as long as they were within their own territory and jurisdiction, Law Mages were the strongest profession of their Order.

If not for the significant drawback of being inward-facing and lacking the ability to explore unknown worlds, even Byron would have been tempted.

The Twins of Light and Darkness were about to be hanged alive.

"Deity Mask, Celestial Descent, Slash!"

Their war axes flashed with cold light, severing the intangible noose around their necks.

The two Mythical Creatures still had the Deity Mask as their trump card.

Even with the side effect of potential assimilation by the other’s divinity, they had no choice but to draw on the power of the Deity Mask once more to break free. They unleashed bursts of tidal Divine Light, desperately trying to escape the Ghost Battleship.

"Fall back for now, and we’ll come back to deal with them later!"

This ship was, after all, the legal domain of Mad King Henry VI. Furthermore, he had a brother, Prince Sorrenberg—also of the Fourth Order—who had been turned into the ship’s spirit by the Touch of the Kraken.

If they were to face these brothers, they had no chance of winning.

As the two tried to flee, Byron and Violet, who were holding hands—or rather, the Bayfolk God-King and Goddess Queen temporarily occupying their positions—exchanged a glance.

They lifted their hands simultaneously and made a grabbing motion towards the Twins of Light and Darkness while shouting,

"Command: Divinity Stripping! Power Suppression!"

The fleeing twins suddenly stiffened, their expressions turning to horror.

"No—!"

They tried to press their hands against the Deity Masks on their faces, but the masks no longer obeyed their commands. The masks dematerialized without any reluctance, instantly moving into the hands of Byron and Violet.

At the same time, a sensation of weakness transmitted through the Bayfolk bloodlines within them.

Had they not already completed their Life Essence elevation and ascended to become Abyssal Children—Mythical Creatures—they might have collapsed on the spot.

Even now, it was not much better. They could only exhibit a fraction of their Fourth Order strength. Before they could even attempt to take flight, they stumbled and crashed back onto the deck.

Behind them, Prince Sorrenberg, who had tacitly coordinated with Byron and Violet, had already led his troop of Heroic Guards in a pounce.

"Slash—!"

Wielding high-quality Sacred Relics and Miracle-class swords, they instantly dismembered the brothers.

Their souls automatically fell into Byron’s hands. Their bodies were collected by his cousin, Edward, who aspired to be the Lich King but whose profession was a "Trader Between Two Worlds." Edward then tossed the corpses onto Financial Street.

Now, the two sides were not suitable for close contact. One side consisted of the Lancasters, who had returned from the Deadman’s World, and the other comprised the Great Loyalists of York.

Throwing the corpses onto Financial Street naturally involved "Miss Friday." She would dispatch someone to refine the Blood of Transformation, ensuring nothing went to waste.

Throughout the entire process, not a single glance was exchanged. Yet, the level of unspoken coordination in their murder and plunder was all the proof needed to justify labeling them a pirate nation.

So strong! No wonder Dagon dreams of merging with the Divine King’s mask; such power is simply cheating. The Divine King’s control over the Bayfolk bloodline is comparable to that of the Old Gods over their Kin. Seizing this authority means holding the lives of all Bayfolk in his hands.

Byron looked at his palms, somewhat in disbelief that two Fourth Order beings had met their deaths so easily at his hand.

Violet, however, looked terrified. She gazed up at Byron and said in agreement, "We’re lucky that these treasures, which inherently belong to [Blue Dragon King] Reinhardt’s Bloodline, came to us willingly. If that Pseudo-God Dagon had successfully fused with them, the consequences would be unimaginable."

Byron had already retrieved the relevant information from the Sailing Logbook. He knew that the Deity Mask was essentially a key unlocking the Bayfolk’s collective subconscious, a treasury of power, and that its capabilities extended far beyond what they had seen.

The Anchoring, Divinity, and Authority sedimented within it by the Mad Hunt Deity and the Heavenly Queen... all awaited their unlocking. However, the threshold to access them was at least the Fourth Order. They were currently too weak and could only slightly manipulate the Deity Mask’s most basic Authority.

After all, even those Fourth Order Mythical Creatures, apart from the unified "Celestial Descent," possessed very few other Authorities.

They were able to strip the divinity from the Twins of Light and Darkness because, in Mysticism, the Twins were the "most favored subjects" of the Divine King and Goddess Queen, most closely related and thus under the highest degree of their control.

For other Bayfolk members of The Pantheon, to strip someone of their divinity, they would have to at least be of the same Order as their target.

However, the onlookers didn’t know his true capabilities; they only saw him effortlessly slay two Fourth Order beings.

Many people couldn’t help but chant fervently:

"Holy Spirit! Saint Byron!"

"Holy Spirit! Saint Byron!"

"..."

In the eyes of those Bayfolk members of The Pantheon, Byron’s series of actions perfectly corroborated their speculation of his "Holy Spirit" incarnation. In terms of power, he could contend with the Slumbering God Kraken and withstand the might of Woden, the Mad Hunt Deity. He could even protect an "ordinary girl" by his side with ease. They couldn’t help but feel a sense of dread.

Especially Yemengade, who for a moment couldn’t distinguish between him and Byron: who was the human, and who was the illogical, bizarre Affiliated.

If he can’t be killed the first time, or the second, or even the third, there’s definitely something strange about this man! If I continue to oppose him, I might be the next to die.

This Nightmare seemed to have become as skittish as a bird startled by a bowstring, ready to flee at the first sign of trouble.

On the other hand, the Pirate King on the Ocean Throne was overjoyed. "The Sea Hunter has actually defeated an Old God! Even if those cultists keep summoning Nightmares to harass the fleet, their power will be nothing compared to before. He has broken the final wave of Nightmares! Warriors, victory is ours! The whaling grounds are ours! Boundless wealth and women are ours! Everything in these seas belongs to us! Kill! Kill! Kill!"

The colonizers, who had nearly been wiped out by that previous nightmare, now had bloodshot eyes. Snapping back from their awe of the "Holy Spirit’s" great power, they immediately joined in, waving their swords and roaring at the battlefield, "Kill all these disgusting Fishmen!"

As for Byron, whom no one could ignore, he had already achieved the primary goal of his journey to the New Continent. The next step was to secure the most crucial element to ignite the "Whale Oil Power Revolution" and unlock the "Whale Oil Technology Tree"—an inexhaustible, vast oil field!

We must eliminate the two Fifth-Order [False Gods] who pose the greatest threat to colonial expansion. At the very least, we need to permanently drive the Deep Dive Church and the Rift Monastery from this nightmarish Triangle Sea area. This is necessary to build a sufficiently strong outpost and safely develop the Whale Oil Industry.

At this moment, Byron’s and the Ocean Throne’s objectives were aligned. The indestructible obsession of Fifth-order Legends was equivalent to their "murder rule." Grasping this rule offered the possibility of cooperation and achieving great returns from small risks.

With the suppressive power of the Deity Mask over the Bayfolk, coupled with the coordination of the Blue Dragon King (the ship), Byron had become the third major power on this battlefield, capable of changing the tide of the war!

Just as he was about to issue the command to reap the final fruits of victory, a very discordant voice suddenly erupted on the battlefield: "The York Family and the Church’s warships are under my command! The interests of the New Continent have nothing to do with us dead folk. But we absolutely must not let Lancaster and the Blue Dragon King (the ship) return to Hightins! Follow me and kill!"

The source of the voice was none other than the Marshal of the First Fleet aboard the Second Grade ship, the King Edward—Norwich York, whom Byron had personally sent into the Kraken’s belly. This fellow obviously didn’t know that he had been stripped of his Marquis title by his "dear" nephew Edward IV and had, with tragic irony, become the scapegoat for the Tribunal.