Just call me Thor - Chapter 614

Chapter 614: Fair enough
Mike was staying behind to cover the retreat.

This was a request Shadow Nine couldn’t refuse.

In his current state, Shadow Nine didn’t have the strength to participate in this battle.

The Dream Come True talent he had painstakingly retrieved couldn’t be wasted here—it was needed elsewhere.

He had spent years planning for this moment and couldn’t afford to lose everything now.

Besides, Mike’s strength had undoubtedly reached an extraordinary level.

Thor was leagues ahead of Shadow Nine.

“I’m leaving!”

With that, Shadow Nine leapt forward, grabbing hold of an iron chain.

Before he could even exert any strength, Shadow Three pulled him out of the Abyss.

But as Shadow Nine looked back, he noticed something strange.

The passage they had painstakingly opened was beginning to close.

What was going on?

Was Thor not coming out?!

Shadow Nine, who had just returned to the Abyss, didn’t even have time to catch his breath.

Without sparing a thought for Mike’s safety, Shadow Three grabbed him and began running at full speed.

In the blink of an eye, Shadow Three had brought Shadow Nine back to Earth—specifically, to the outskirts of the Forest of Truth.

“Shadow Nine, it’s safe here,” Shadow Three said.

As a former demon god, Shadow Three’s concern for Shadow Nine’s safety was touching.

What’s more, the Forest of Truth was where Shadow Nine was at his strongest.

Here, he feared no demon god.

Even if Shadow Three hadn’t brought him here, Shadow Nine would have returned on his own to proceed with the next step of his plan.

So, without any suspicion, Shadow Nine stepped into the Forest of Truth.

The moment he entered, Shadow Nine froze.

Something was wrong.

Something had been off from the very beginning.

Who had arranged for Shadow Three to retrieve him?

Apollo.

Why had Shadow Three been so eager to bring him to the Forest of Truth?

What was in the Forest of Truth?

Morpheus’s lingering soul.

The more Shadow Nine thought about it, the more uneasy he became.

To enter the Supreme Abyssal, Shadow Nine had tricked Apollo once.

So, was it possible that Apollo would trick Shadow Nine in return?

The most meticulous and seemingly harmless of humanity’s Supreme Beings, the ever-rigorous Apollo…

Would he really scheme against his own instructor?

Yes.

And the most critical point was that, in Apollo’s eyes, there was nothing wrong with it.

You trick me once, I trick you once. Fair enough.

Shadow Nine wanted to retreat, to leave this place.

But it was too late.

Almost simultaneously, a middle-aged man appeared behind Shadow Nine.

[Dream Come True] slipped from Shadow Nine’s control and fell into the man’s hands.

The lingering soul Shadow Nine had brought back from the Supreme Abyssal merged with the man.

The middle-aged man looked at Shadow Nine with a hint of helplessness but still asked,

“Tell me, do you dare to face your nightmares?”

Shadow Nine had no strength to resist.

His vision went black, and he passed out.

As Shadow Nine lost consciousness, his body began to turn red, the crimson hue spreading until it consumed him entirely.

This was a necessary step for him to survive.

Once the transformation was complete, a coffin appeared.

This was one of humanity’s rare SSS-level pieces of equipment.

Shadow Nine was placed inside the coffin, slowly being sealed.

From the shadows emerged a hunched old man, his body radiating a deep crimson aura. His energy was depleted, as if he had just suffered a severe injury.

The old man looked at Morpheus but said nothing.

The middle-aged man, gazing at the sealed Shadow Nine, didn’t know what to say.

“Wait!”

Just as Morpheus was about to seal the coffin and bury it underground, someone interrupted.

An armless old man came running at full speed, kicking a wheelchair ahead of him.

In the wheelchair sat another old man, kind and serene, who didn’t move much or speak often.

Nowadays, Cedric could use two fingers to steer the wheelchair, preventing it from tipping over during their chaotic journeys.

As for the wheelchair’s propulsion…

The rehabilitation center had initially planned to install a motor, but Calderon kept breaking it with his kicks.

In the end, Cedric’s wheelchair was modified to be powered by Calderon’s feet.

These two, dragging their frail bodies, had suddenly arrived at the Forest of Truth.

They must have had something important to do.

Calderon caught up to the wheelchair, gave it a sideways kick to stop it, then darted to the other side and kicked again, successfully braking.

Shadow Three, standing nearby, silently took a step back.

As a demon god, it was best not to get involved in this kind of situation.

Calderon scanned the area but couldn’t see Morpheus.

So, he addressed the air,

“His disciple promised me that before you bury him, I get to take a picture!”

Morpheus, helpless, stepped aside.

Fine, take your picture.

Besides, a few more embarrassing moments for Shadow Nine wouldn’t hurt.

Calderon used his right foot to retrieve a camera from behind Cedric’s wheelchair, carefully placing it on Cedric’s head.

He activated the recording function and began kicking Cedric’s wheelchair to move it around the coffin.

This turned Cedric into a mobile camera stand.

After circling the coffin, Calderon hooked the camera with his foot and tossed it into the air.

“Take a group photo for us.”

The camera didn’t fall but hovered in mid-air, as if held by an invisible hand.

Calderon kicked Cedric’s wheelchair closer to the coffin.

In Morpheus’s era, the Three Giants were among the most powerful humans.

Each of them, at the Ultimate Lord level, possessed terrifying combat strength.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that in other races, with their talents and power, they would have had a high chance of becoming Supreme Beings.

But they had encountered Nathan—a being even stronger than them.

Now, the Three Giants had become a trio of old, frail, and disabled men.

In front of the camera, Calderon raised his foot and extended his middle toe.

He truly understood the language of the lens.

After taking a few photos, Calderon hung the camera around his neck.

Morpheus looked at the two of them, unsure of what to say.

They were alive, yes, but their quality of life… was another matter entirely.

Cedric’s situation aside, Calderon seemed to be enjoying himself—perhaps a bit too much.

He was so cheerful it bordered on impoliteness, constantly cursing at everyone.

Even if Morpheus wanted to heal them, it would be difficult.

Their current conditions were the result of bugging the system.

One had forcibly withstood the Gate of Truth.

The other had exploited a loophole to become an Ultimate Lord.

The penalties from the system’s rules had left them in this state.

As for when the penalties would end…

No one knew.

If Morpheus were fully resurrected, he might have been able to heal them.

But now, as a mere lingering soul, even with Dream Come True, he couldn’t spare the energy to help them.

Calderon watched as the coffin slowly sank into the ground and asked curiously,

“Will this really bring Shadow Nine back to life?”

Morpheus didn’t answer.

Even if he did, the two of them wouldn’t hear him.

Their current strength was so weak that if Morpheus revealed his true form, they would immediately pass out.

The usually silent Blood Ultimate spoke up.

“Based on previous experiments, it should work.”

Experiments?

How meticulous were they?!

Cedric, though silent, glanced at Terenas, signaling him to continue.

Blood Ultimate hesitated for a moment.

The next part involved humanity’s greatest secret.

The two before him were now mere mortals.

If a demon god exploited them and leaked the secret…

“It’s fine. Speak,” Shadow Three said coldly.

“No demon god would dare cross the line.”

Shadow Three had the confidence to make such a statement.

Among the demon gods, Shadow Three feared only two:

The Supreme Demon God, for obvious reasons.

And the Fifth Demon God, whose erratic behavior and fluctuating power made him the only real threat to Shadow Three.

But this matter involved Shadow Nine and even Nathan’s resurrection.

The Fifth Demon God’s madness had temporarily subsided.

In other words, there was no longer any threat to humanity from the Abyss.

Blood Ultimate continued,

“The problem lies in the quality of the materials we’ve prepared.

The body being reconstructed will have strength comparable to a Nine-Star Lord from the moment of its birth.

This also makes the resurrection process slower and more time-consuming.”

“Wait!”

Calderon sensed something was off.

Even with his limited intelligence, he picked up on a key detail.

“I just have one question.

If Shadow Nine is resurrected from the coffin, will he be able to enter the Tower of Truth and awaken his talent?”

Blood Ultimate fell silent for a moment before answering,

“Yes.”

Even Michael didn’t know that when he was resurrected, he had also awakened his talent.

That memory had been erased by Apollo.

A being born with the strength of a Nine-Star Lord and capable of awakening an SSS-level talent…

Humanity had a term for such beings:

Potential Supreme Being.

The expressions of everyone present changed.

Their gazes toward the coffin grew increasingly strange.

Humanity’s fifth-generation potential Supreme Being…

Was Shadow Nine?!

This revelation left everyone stunned.

Not long ago, Professor Gregory had approached Apollo to ask about Thor’s relationship with the fifth-generation potential Supreme Being.

At the time, Apollo hadn’t even needed to calculate.

He had given an immediate answer.

Normally, matters involving Supreme Beings were difficult to predict, even with divination.

But Apollo had been so certain.

And he had been right.

If the fifth-generation potential Supreme Being were anyone else, Thor might have had other thoughts.

But if it was Shadow Nine…

The nature of the situation changed entirely.

Thor would never betray Shadow Nine.

The truth left everyone in shock, unable to recover for a long time.

Shadow Nine’s talent, experience, and contributions to humanity…

In every respect, he was already equivalent to a Supreme Being.

Now, with his body reconstructed, he would truly live again and awaken an SSS-level talent.

This was the best possible outcome.

Calderon stared into the void and asked seriously,

“If I die now, is there still time to take his spot?”

Morpheus: …

Cedric, ever the pragmatist, simply tilted his head and stopped breathing.

Blood Ultimate Lord: …

Was this really necessary?

Couldn’t they show a little dignity as seniors?

Looking at the now “dead” Cedric, Shadow Three stepped forward and said solemnly,

“We’ll need to perform CPR. I’ll hold his head, and Calderon can—never mind, he’s already alive again.”

The resurrected Cedric looked disappointed.

He had failed to secure the spot.

Still, everyone present could accept this outcome.

The coffin was fully sealed and buried in the forest.

When it reappeared, it would likely be a hundred years from now.

In the Supreme Abyssal.

After sending Shadow Nine away, Mike turned his attention to his own task.

Using the Thunderclap Hammer, he struck the ground repeatedly, trying to separate the throne from the snowy mountain.

Suddenly, the tremors from the depths of the Abyss stopped.

A battered butterfly slowly flew toward him.

The butterfly landed in front of Mike and looked at him.

Its message was clear:

Apollo says it’s time to leave.

If you don’t go now, it’ll be too late.

The battle between Apollo and the Supreme Demon God was nearing its conclusion.

At this level of combat, there would be no dragging things out.

If Thor were swallowed by the Supreme Demon God, the consequences would be unimaginable.

And if the Supreme Demon God managed to knock Apollo out of the Supreme realm, his first act would be to kill Thor.

At that point, Thor wouldn’t have the strength to protect himself.

But Mike was still busy.

He couldn’t leave just yet.

As he worked, he shouted toward the depths of the Abyss,

“Third bro, what about you?”

From the depths, Apollo’s voice echoed back.

“I’ll cover the rear.”