"Looks like you're not surprised," Drael said calmly after taking hold of the golden heart.

His eyes then fell on the white-haired young man watching him quietly.

"Should I be surprised?" Daniel replied with a casual smile, pretending not to care.

But truthfully, he was a little surprised, though not as much as one might expect, considering what had happened a few minutes ago.

He had already realized something was off back then.

"So, you did notice," Drael laughed.

"When did you figure it out?" His voice suddenly grew cold, and every trace of humanity vanished from his eyes.

He looked so emotionless and detached that he didn't even seem human anymore, like a god gazing down upon all living beings with disdain and indifference.

"You weren't inside the boundary I made around the temple," Daniel said slowly. "Until it's lifted, anyone weaker than me can't enter or leave it. But you did."

The moment he said that, Daniel felt a chill crawl down his spine.

It was the first time he'd ever felt so worthless, so small. Like a bug in front of something infinitely greater.

"I see… you didn't take it seriously enough. Still, you realized it too late," Drael said with a nod, glancing again at the golden heart now beating faintly in his hands.

For a brief moment, joy flickered in his eyes.

If he could reabsorb this heart, he could regain a large portion of his divine power.

With all the faith energy present in this place, returning to his former strength wouldn't be difficult.

But before that, he needed to eliminate the nuisance standing before him.

"So, you've been lying and acting all along?" Daniel asked quietly.

"No," Drael—or rather, the Buried God, replied emotionlessly.

"I took over this body when I first entered this world."

"I thought this place was just a reflection of the past, a false reality," Daniel frowned.

He'd always seen the tower's floors as illusory constructs.

But if entities in these 'false realities' could actually possess real players… wasn't that terrifying?

Did the tower even have rules anymore?

"I am a god," the Buried God said, his tone calm yet proud. "Gods exist beyond the limits of logic and definition. Even if this world is nothing but a false reality, it's still enough for me to manifest, reclaim myself, and take control of a weaker vessel."

"I see," Daniel murmured, nodding slightly. "Now that you mention it, another god I know said something similar."

He remembered the Prophet of Eternity.

Even though he'd met him on one of the tower's floors, where everything should have been unreal, it was clear that the Prophet's awareness had been genuine.

In other words, beings at a divine level could exist anywhere they wished and send their consciousness even into false or fabricated realities.

That thought made Daniel shiver slightly.

It was beyond imagination, truly terrifying to think such beings existed at all.

But only for a moment. Soon, his mind calmed.

After all, he trusted himself, he believed that one day, he could reach that level too.

"So that means you weren't really here all this time… you were beside me," Daniel said, turning his gaze toward the Buried God.

"Both right and wrong," the god replied.

"I was beside you, and I was here as well. This entire world is made from my body. That ocean you saw, those were my eyes. The mountain range we crossed, those were my veins. And now, this heart is mine."

"I see. So while you were beside me, you were actually reclaiming parts of your divine body to restore your power," Daniel reasoned aloud.

That realization made him pause for a second.

Didn't that mean he'd been used this entire time without even knowing it?

He had fought through every danger, while this god quietly regained his strength piece by piece, and Daniel himself had unknowingly helped him do it.

In other words, he had been feeding power to the very being he was supposed to destroy.

Clap! Clap!

The sound of clapping broke his thoughts.

"Smart boy," the Buried God said, smiling faintly.

"You're right. I've been using you all along,but I had no choice. This body is too useless; it barely has any combat power at all. And reclaiming my divine parts doesn't restore my strength instantly, it takes time."

He sighed.

When he first took over this body, he thought he'd found a suitable vessel.

Only later did he realize how fragile and worthless it really was.

Then he met Daniel, a monstrous prodigy.

The temptation to take Daniel's body was immense. But every time the thought crossed his mind, he was overwhelmed by a sense of dread, as if doing so would lead to his true annihilation.

And the longer he spent with Daniel, the more he realized the truth, this human was far too dangerous.

Even in his weakened state, the god knew he stood no chance against him.

Then came an even greater shock: this mortal could command the Fallen Legion.

As far as the Buried God knew, only one god had ever possessed that ability.

At first, he suspected Daniel might be that god reincarnated.

But he soon found that their souls were different, their personalities, too.

Eventually, he concluded that Daniel had somehow discovered a fragment of that god's legacy and inherited the ability to summon the Fallen.

"Now we've reached the end of the road," Daniel said, glancing at the golden heart. "Once you absorb that thing, I probably won't be able to defeat you anymore."

He extended his hand, and a black sword materialized, emanating an aura of death and destruction.

His instincts screamed at him: if he didn't strike now, he'd lose his only chance.

"You're wrong," the Buried God sneered with contempt. "Once I absorb this heart, I'll crush you like an insect. But even as I am now, I can still destroy you."

He placed the heart back where it belonged and sealed it within a divine barrier so the mortal couldn't even scratch it.

Unfortunately, the process of merging with the heart wasn't quick, otherwise, he would have done it already.

That's why he needed to kill this human first.

"Let me show you what the power of a god truly is."

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