I asked, "Do you not have a physical body?"
Saga sounded nostalgic. "I used to, but it was destroyed in battle. Even if I rebuild one, I can no longer wield the strength of my Peak Mythic self—I'd barely manage Upper strength. It's actually better this way."
"When those in the Cosmic Consciousness who belong to the Forces of Light align with my Will of Miracle, I bestow a portion of my power upon them to help them vanquish formidable foes in my likeness."
So that was how it worked. I looked at the two monsters and naturally chose Lugiel. The God of Galactron was humanoid, an upgraded version Saga had designed based on the original. That hunk of metal—if you beat him up, you'd just hurt yourself. You'd have to be out of your mind to pick him.
I walked up to Lugiel and clapped my fists together. "You're the one. I've made my choice."
Saga said, "Then let's begin!"
No sooner had his voice fallen than Lugiel moved. A wave of light came hurtling toward me. I casually swatted it away, but before I could regain my bearings, I was blindsided by a direct hit and sent crashing hard to the ground.
As I scrambled back up, a flash of lightning came bearing down. I rolled aside to dodge, but before I could counterattack, the Genesis Requiem struck—a wide-area assault. I had to take the damage head-on, and every fiber of my body protested in discomfort.
Before I could steady myself, the Genesis Requiem came again, firing a red laser straight from its head. I used Teleportation to evade it, then casually tossed out a Saga Ring.
It had zero effect. Not only did its Genesis Shield block the attack, but damn it, it bounced right back at me. How frustrating! Who's afraid of whom? I refused to believe I couldn't smash that tortoise shell of yours.
Light-Dark Slashing Ray! I gathered all my power into an ultimate move and fired. He didn't hold back either, unleashing the Genesis Requiem to clash head-on with my beam.
Naturally, it ended in a stalemate. Neither of us went for the kill, and neither gained much ground. Abandoning the beam struggle, I moved in for close combat. Despite my wealth of battle experience, I couldn't gain the slightest advantage.
I still had my Light Saber; time to put it to use. Drawing the blade, I slashed at him. I grew careless—his tentacles were razor-sharp and easily blocked my strike. Unsurprisingly, I was still being crushed. I flashed backward and retreated. He was truly formidable!
Saga's voice rang out. "Well? My pet is impressive, isn't he? He practically unleashed all his skills. You'll get used to it once you're familiar with the rhythm. Every Ultimate is difficult to defeat; you need to figure out their bottom line and wipe them out in one fell swoop."
"Keep practicing slowly! Accumulate your own combat experience and fighting system. Strike with a beam the moment the enemy is paralyzed and off-balance. For instance, Hellfire and Extreme Fist—fast-releasing moves should take priority, followed by sheer lethality. Both of those skills fit the bill. Accumulate your advantage and kill them in a single strike. Alright, ponder on this slowly. I'm taking my leave."
Thinking about it, he was entirely right. Just like I had been, spamming ultimate moves blindly was completely useless and just wasted energy.
I put away the Light Saber and looked at Lugiel. Let's go again. This time, we'll take it slow.
***
Far away, Saga was communicating remotely with Noa. "Tell me, should I teach him the method Noa uses to focus energy? He's exceptional; not long after his birth, he can already fight Lugiel. Although still raw, it's already quite impressive."
Noa replied, "He is indeed exceptional. Congratulations! You've found a qualified successor. But we still need to observe him. After all, steeped in darkness as he is, his temperament bears watching. If he should ever plunge into the darkness, it will spell trouble."
Saga retorted, "Why are you so averse to darkness? Must those wielding the power of light always be righteous? Are those born with inherent darkness bound to be evil? There are plenty of good people in the world; with proper guidance, he won't necessarily go on a Tulu rampage. Even if he doesn't work for the Forces of Light, isn't it enough for him to roam the cosmos freely without wantonly obliterating living beings? Why be so rigidly demanding?"
Noa strongly disagreed. "The essence of his power is immense. What if he is seduced and commits countless evils? How do we deal with that? We have always sought to transcend the Mythic realm, and he is no exception. If he gets seduced one day, who among us will be able to handle him?"
Saga completely disagreed. "Have we ourselves not done bad things over the years in the pursuit of strength? Hand on heart, I have. But more often than not, I've been maintaining cosmic stability. If that day truly comes and an opportunity for transcendence presents itself, what would you do? So you're overthinking it. Forget about righteousness and evil; just follow your heart. I won't force him to join the righteous side—as long as he acts as he pleases and doesn't indiscriminately slaughter innocent lives, that's enough."
Noa sighed helplessly. "You are completely indulging him. Born strong, he ought to contribute his share to a peaceful cosmos."
Saga countered, "Everyone has the chance to choose their own path; not everyone is like you. Although he possesses a portion of your power, he is my successor. How he chooses to live is his own business, and I won't interfere. In maintaining cosmic stability, I sacrificed my own physical body, and my path forward is cut off—that is enough. He should carry my Will of Miracle toward a brilliant future, not spend his days maintaining cosmic stability. If one day you lot interfere with him, don't blame me for being discourteous. If I seek revenge, the consequences will be severe."
Noa was left speechless.
Saga continued, "The cosmos gave birth to us, and we have given it so much for all these years. I even gave up my physical body; I've paid my debts long ago."
"At your level and mine, if not for the interference of the Cosmic Consciousness, we would have transcended ages ago. How did we end up in this state? He is free; he shouldn't walk our old path. Transcendence is what he ought to pursue."
Noa was shocked. "How can you harbor such selfish thoughts?"
Saga said indifferently, "Do you really think you could have taken him away from Lucifer without any losses? If he had no intentions of his own, you would have had to be severely wounded, rather than suffering the heavy energy loss you did."
"Our goal is transcendence. Even with Light and Dark combined within one body, it cannot be maintained for long. He is the exception; he was born this way, which is why he can sustain it indefinitely."
"Believe it or not, I can summon Lucifer right now. Both Lucifer and I see the hope of transcendence in him. If I just say the little fellow's power is unbalanced, he will definitely show up. Do you believe me?"
Noa said, not believing it in the least, "Both of our power losses are considerable. Without eighty percent of his strength, he wouldn't dare show his face. I don't believe he'll come here."
Saga said, "Watch and learn, you holy-mother-like Noa. Watch me summon him."
A strange fluctuation radiated outward. Saga simply said, "I bear no ill intent. The little fellow's inner darkness purity is insufficient, carrying the risk of self-detonation. Come quickly."
Before long, Lucifer appeared. He opened his mouth and cursed, "You, the great God Saga, can't even take care of a child? What else are you good for?"
Saga explained, "Ever since his gestation, I've kept high-purity light flowing into his body, but I can't handle the dark portion. He's fine for now, but you need to replenish him immediately. Once he absorbs it himself, it will stabilize. Hurry up and supplement his lack of dark power to avoid unnecessary trouble."
At that moment, I was busy recovering my lost energy. A massive surge of dark power flowed into my body undetected, reaching the exact same intensity as the light before vanishing.
Saga watched him finish the task. He said, "We see hope in him, something we can use as a reference. Warn your subordinates not to give him a hard time. Let him grow up safely, keep an eye on his development, and perhaps we'll reap unexpected rewards."
Lucifer replied, "The day he was born, he became the Crown Prince of my faction. Anyone who touches him has a death wish. Even Zagi, whom I recently modified, has been given the order that he is the Crown Prince and must be obeyed unconditionally."
Saga was speechless. "Did you really have to be that rigorous? Is this Zagi you mentioned even strong? You had to single him out."
Lucifer said proudly, "Strong. At full power, even Noa at sixty percent strength couldn't kill him. Would you say that's strong? And that's not even the best part—he can grow another twenty percent stronger, which is his limit."
Saga was utterly speechless. "Why would you go to such lengths? You're completely wasting his potential!"
Lucifer sighed helplessly. "I had no choice. Don't I have a certain holier-than-thou bitch constantly giving me trouble? With him holding the line, wouldn't my life be much easier? It saves me from that bastard Noa chasing me across the cosmos every single day. Where would I find the time to fight him?"