Chapter 564: Hagrid’s Demise!

"Domain!"

Several voices boomed across the heavens of Velmora at once, their combined command echoing through the city as Lazarus’ eyes darted around in shock.

From every corner of the city square, massive white domes suddenly expanded outward, their surfaces covered in complex demonic markings as they rose into the sky and connected above the battlefield.

Buzz!

The turbulent river of gold rushing across the city suddenly collided with several of the newly formed domains. The advancing golden tide buckled against the invisible pressure before grinding to a halt, its waves crashing violently against the boundaries of the overlapping domains.

Lazarus’ expression darkened as he wiped the blood from the corner of his lips. "What? They are trying to stop my Territory?"

He looked around and immediately recognized the coordinated effort. The demigods surrounding the battlefield had not been trying to defeat him directly. They had been waiting for the exact moment his Territory appeared so they could interfere with its expansion.

Swoosh!

A powerful breeze suddenly swept across Lazarus’ face, drawing his attention upward. Damian floated high above the battlefield, his hands forming a seal as his long hair whipped wildly behind him.

Purple fumes erupted from his body with increasing intensity, spreading through the sky like an unnatural mist.

"Illusionary Domain!" Damian chuckled lightly as the purple fumes rapidly expanded toward every edge of the city square before rising upward and forming an enormous dome around Damian, Lazarus and Hagrid.

The moment the dome completely sealed the battlefield, the purple fumes crystallized, creating a strange translucent barrier that separated the three from the outside world.

Only then did the several domains holding back Lazarus’ Golden City begin to disappear.

Across the battlefield, Yuji, Khalid, Lucy, Kor, Kan, Racheal, Hazel, Ruby, Mary, Alice, Rah, Jugo, Talos, Loyd and Fulgur dropped to their knees almost simultaneously. Their chests heaved violently as the immense strain of suppressing a God’s Territory took its toll, while blood trickled from the corners of their mouths.

Fulgur lowered his head as he struggled to breathe and muttered, "It’s up to you now, Sire."

___ False Territory: Realm Of Dreams ___

When the world settled, Damian found himself standing above the familiar city square of Velmora, yet the entire capital had become eerily silent. No soldiers marched through the streets, no civilians filled the roads and no voices echoed between the buildings.

Towering cherry blossom trees had appeared throughout the capital, their enormous branches spreading across rooftops as pink petals drifted slowly through the air. A thick layer of pink mist covered the ground, obscuring everything below knee level and giving the entire city an almost dreamlike appearance.

Rin sat comfortably on Damian’s shoulder, completely at ease despite the terrifying situation around them.

"It’s called the Realm of Dreams now. As your power is temporarily improved, so is your Domain. Now it’s a False Territory," Rin explained.

Damian remained airborne, however, his attention wandering across the strange version of his capital with genuine interest.

He slowly looked down at his palm and flexed his fingers. "This is interesting."

The sensation was completely different from using a Domain.

Within a normal Domain, Damian simply felt stronger and more connected to his abilities, but here, the sensation was far deeper. He could feel the buildings, the streets, the trees and even the air around him as though they were extensions of his own body.

It felt as though the entire city itself had become part of him. Everything within this place existed under his control.

"Damian, you scoundrel! So this was your plan all along?!" Lazarus’ roar pulled his attention away from his surroundings.

The God of Greed stood several hundred meters away, still carrying Hagrid over his shoulder as he glared at Damian with fury. Damian and Rin slowly turned toward him, and a mocking smile appeared on both their faces.

Damian glanced at Hagrid before looking back at Lazarus. "Aren’t you going to leave that waste of space behind? If you continue like this, you will only end up getting killed with him."

Rin chuckled from Damian’s shoulder. "He’s the personification of Greed. He is bound to hold onto what belongs to him even if it means dying with it in his arms. That’s why he’s stupid enough to come after you without an army just for three women who were never interested in him."

Buzz!

Lazarus’ face twisted into a deadly frown. "Bastard, you think you have won? Or have you forgotten your arrays have been destroyed already?"

"At what cost?" Rin mocked, causing Lazarus’ eyes to twitch.

Damian’s expression remained calm as he stared directly at the God before him. "The moment you stepped into my Territory, your fate was decided. In this place, I am the only God."

Buzz!

As those words left Damian’s mouth, his body suddenly began expanding. His already massive form grew larger and larger until he became a megalithic giant whose head towered above the clouds, his enormous body stretching across the dreamlike capital.

His burning purple eyes descended upon Lazarus like two enormous suns, making the God of Greed appear microscopic by comparison.

Lazarus hissed through his teeth before forcing himself to remain calm. "FOOL... I AM STILL A GOD, AND IF YOU THINK THERE IS NO MEANS TO COUNTER A TERRITORY, THEN YOU NEED TO SPEND LESS TIME TRASH TALKING AND EXPAND YOUR KNOWLEDGE!"

Buzz!

A violent surge of golden energy erupted beneath Lazarus’ feet and rapidly expanded outward, covering a four thousand meter radius. Within that space, golden structures began rising from the ground one after another, towers, walls and enormous buildings forming in seconds as the landscape transformed into a miniature golden city. At its center, a colossal tower emerged above everything else.

"Partial Territory: BABYLON!!!" Lazarus roared, his voice booming across the dreamlike city.

Damian’s expression immediately darkened as he sensed the change. Within the area occupied by Lazarus’ Partial Territory, his control over the Realm of Dreams had been severed. It was as though a piece of his own world had suddenly been taken away from him.

Rin immediately explained, "While it’s impossible to summon a Territory within another Territory, when scaled down into a Partial Territory, the realm recognizes it as just another technique and not a Territory. That’s why it’s possible to use it within another person’s Territory. However, its effects and powers are limited to the space it occupies."

Damian’s eyes narrowed as his hands curled into fists. "NO MATTER. I WILL JUST CRUSH HIM LIKE AN INSECT!"

The world trembled as Damian swung his enormous fist downward. The pressure generated by the movement alone distorted the surrounding space, while flames erupted around his fist as it descended like a colossal comet. The force behind the attack felt powerful enough to shatter mountains, flatten cities and potentially destroy the world itself if left unchecked.

Lazarus sneered as a golden throne materialized behind him. He dropped Hagrid onto the golden river beneath them and calmly sat down.

"YOU WILL BE TAUGHT A LESSON!" Lazarus roared as every golden structure within his Partial Territory exploded into violent waves of flowing gold.

The structures collapsed into liquid before surging upward and forming an enormous golden fist. The construct shot toward Damian’s descending fist with its fingers extended.

Bam!

The two fists collided, and Damian’s enormous body suddenly shuddered. His expression changed when he saw his fist begin turning gold. The transformation spread rapidly from his fingertips across his hand and toward his wrist.

"MIDAS TOUCH!" Lazarus laughed as the golden transformation continued spreading until it reached Damian’s elbow, remaining confined to the portion of his body within the range of Lazarus’ Partial Territory.

Damian’s face twisted with pain as he tried to pull his arm away, but Lazarus suddenly extended his hand and grabbed the empty air.

"Greed Inheritance: Avarice!"

Boom!

An invisible force seized Damian’s transformed arm and violently pulled. His eyes widened as the golden limb was ripped away from his body with terrifying force, the severed arm flying across the battlefield before plunging into the turbulent sea of gold surrounding Lazarus.

The moment it touched the river, it dissolved into the golden mass and became part of the sea itself.

Lazarus threw his head back and laughed. "Hahahahaha... Did you think my Midas Touch is limited only to nonliving things? Within my Territory, everything I touch or my power touches becomes gold!"

"Sire!!!!!" Hagrid’s pained voice suddenly echoed through the golden city.

Lazarus’ laughter stopped instantly as he turned toward the spot where he had left Hagrid. The ground was empty. His eyes widened before he quickly looked over his shoulder.

Several hundred meters away, Damian stood in his normal seventeen foot form, hovering in the air while holding Hagrid by the neck with one hand.

"What?..." Lazarus muttered, his eyes shifting between Damian and the enormous giant that had just attacked him.

The giant Damian was still standing in the distance, but its massive body suddenly wavered like mist. A cold, mocking grin appeared across its enormous face before the entire construct dissolved into nothingness.

Lazarus’ pupils contracted as he finally understood. The giant had never been Damian himself. It had been an illusion designed to occupy his attention while the real Damian moved through the dreamscape and stole Hagrid from his grasp.

Damian tightened his fingers around Hagrid’s throat, lifting him higher as the High Censor desperately clawed at his wrist.

"Have you forgotten who I am, you greedy bastard?" Damian chuckled. "You were so eager for a victory that I gave you a good dream while I snatched what you considered less important. I’ll consider this a fair trade."

VDamian’s expression became colder as he applied pressure.

Krak!!!

Hagrid’s neck visibly compressed beneath Damian’s grip as a pained squeal escaped him, his eyes bulging from the pressure.

Lazarus’ face twisted with fury as golden energy erupted violently from his body.

"DAMIANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!" His roar shook the entire False Territory.