"I absorbed several Gods of Destruction. Sigh. Back then, I really had no choice."
Levos gave a brief explanation of what had happened at the time, how he had been ambushed and surrounded by nine Gods of Destruction, and how he had only resorted to that measure in self-defense.
Vados spoke up in support.
"What Mr. Levos says is true. The situation was extremely dangerous. If that level of battle had continued, Universe 4 would likely have ceased to exist long ago."
"Ohh." Zeno's voice gave away neither joy nor anger. "That sounds interesting."
For a moment, Levos had no idea how to respond.
"Well, I won't interfere in the affairs of this timeline."
"And also, what they did was very bad."
Champa was so shocked he could barely speak.
Levos had absorbed the other nine Gods of Destruction, and then told Zeno to his face.
Just thinking about it made every hair on Champa's body stand on end.
The nerve on this guy was unbelievable.
But what confused him even more was Zeno's reaction.
It was as if it had nothing to do with him.
Or as if absorbing nine Gods of Destruction was just some trivial little matter.
Why was Lord Zeno being so easygoing?
Then, suddenly, Champa caught a crucial detail.
He leaned close to Levos and lowered his voice.
"Wait. Just now, Lord Zeno said he doesn't care about the affairs of this timeline. What does that mean?"
Levos did not hide anything.
"The timeline His Majesty Zeno came from was erased by his own hand because Ozotto tried to break through the bounds of time and space."
"He didn't want to go back to the Divine Realm, and he wanted to watch interesting matches, so he came along with me."
Champa's jaw nearly hit the floor.
Vados, meanwhile, wore an expression of complete understanding.
She had long suspected that the Zeno before them was not the one from this timeline.
"No wonder. I always felt that His Majesty Zeno's aura was slightly different from the one in our timeline."
"All right. I'm going to let them out now." Levos said no more. "They can help draw the attention of the people outside the barrier."
The moment he finished speaking, Levos transformed into his Cell Max form.
Then, under the effect of the Four Witches Technique, nine tails grew out behind him.
Gurgle. Gurgle.
Something was writhing inside the tails.
Then
Splurt, splat, splat...
One slimy figure after another slid out.
They were the nine Gods of Destruction.
Only, their bearing was nothing like before. They were weak and listless, as though their bodies had been hollowed out.
After climbing to their feet, they first looked around in confusion. But the moment they recognized the few people around them
Their faces were instantly filled with uncontrollable rage and humiliation.
The sole female God of Destruction, the graceful Heles of Universe 2, attacked first.
"Levos, you filthy liar! You clearly promised you would only absorb a little and absolutely no more! But what happened? You drained away the divine power I accumulated over tens of millions of years!"
"That vile wretch! To commit such blasphemy against us gods!"
Mosco, the God of Destruction of Universe 3, roared through his support robot.
"You despicable bastard!" Quitela of Universe 4 pointed at Levos's nose, gnashing his teeth. "You only managed this because you used such a dirty trick to threaten us. Otherwise, how could you possibly have been a match for the nine of us together!"
Their fury quickly spread to the others nearby.
It was no surprise to see Champa and Vados at Levos's side.
The other Gods of Destruction had long since found the two of them displeasing to look at, and in their hearts had already decided they were in league with Levos.
And Monaka over there was dragged into the same camp.
This new face looked especially easy to bully, so all the anger bottled up inside the gods finally found an outlet.
"Champa! Vados! You helped him plot against us too, didn't you?" Sidra, the God of Destruction of Universe 9, stroked his beard and glared darkly. "Does Universe 6 intend to make enemies of all our universes?"
By comparison, they still held some restraint toward Levos.
They barked fiercely, but did not dare take any actual liberties with him.
Vados and Champa both protested the accusations strongly.
Only that pink-skinned, dull-looking figure offered no resistance at all.
"That's right! Maybe he was the one cooperating with Levos from the inside all along!" Quitela chimed in. With a flash, he appeared right in front of Monaka and began sizing him up. "Hey, you. Speak. What, are you mute?"
He reached out and poked Monaka's belly.
The next moment, the touch of the costume made him realize something was wrong.
"Oh ho, so you've been wearing a disguise!"
"Cowardly little rat, let us see your true face!"
Iwan, the furry God of Destruction of Universe 1, also stepped forward until he was right in front of Monaka.
"You suspicious little thing. Are you the mastermind? How dare you scheme against us?"
"Our status as Gods of Destruction is supremely exalted. Do you understand what it means to offend someone above your station?"
Whether Zeno had been stunned into silence or was simply doing his utmost to preserve his cover, he did not resist this time the way he had when Champa bullied him before. He merely stood there quietly, saying nothing.
To the other Gods of Destruction, that only made him look weak and easy to push around.
They could not bully Levos, but did that mean they couldn't bully him?
They decided to recover some of their lost dignity by taking it out on this fellow.
Levos and Vados were completely speechless.
They tried to say a word or two in warning, but the moment they got even one or two syllables out, they were immediately drowned out.
"Shut up! We'll settle accounts one by one. It's not your turn yet!"
Their voices vanished into the chaos of condemnation.
Watching this unfold, Champa's heart leaped into his throat.
He was tense beyond belief.
Yet, deep inside, a strange sense of anticipation rose in him.
His mentality instantly balanced out.
At last, he no longer blamed Levos for hiding Lord Zeno's identity and dragging him into danger.
This moment was exactly like that one before.
History really did repeat itself in astonishing ways.
Still, no matter how much schadenfreude he felt inside, appearances had to be maintained.
"Hey! Don't bully Mr. Monaka! If you've got something, come at me instead!"
"Hmph! Don't worry! Once we uncover this brat's true identity, it'll be your turn next!"
Champa had even begun to pity his fellow gods.
When he had offended Lord Zeno earlier, he didn't think he had been nearly as overbearing as this lot.
Now things were truly serious.
Quitela had no idea what was going through Champa's mind. Seeing Monaka still fail to react, his impatience finally hit its limit.
"Hmph. Not talking, are you? Then don't blame me for getting rough!"
He stretched out his claws, grabbed Monaka's mascot head in one motion, clean and decisive, exactly the same thing Champa had done earlier.
"Off it comes!"
Riiip.
The head separated from the body.
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