574 If Challenging Omnipotence is a Paradox...

Even as Celestial Slaughter's gaze nailed her, his words seemed to fly by Yvonne's ears as she kept her eyes focused on Konrad's back. Others, however, soon felt waves of confusion flood their minds. Only Konrad and Dragon Dark didn't experience any ripple. There was a specific reason why Dragon Dark called Yvonne "little sister-in-law." If she wasn't that woman, why would he?

But seeing Yvonne spare him no glance, Celestial Slaughter's eyes narrowed.

"Little heart, don't tell me you also plan to die silly. Your soon to be dead husband doesn't need you to follow him to the grave. Obediently come here."

Since Yvonne had crossed the 10,000 Tribulations, there was no way for Celestial Slaughter to control her through the power of samsara. He could only accept or erase her will. The latter carried no appeal.

Still, Yvonne spared him no glance, as if from beginning to end, he didn't exist in her world. Only one did. And understanding that sight, Celestial Slaughter shook his head in disapproval. 

"Never let a girl taste the rod if you want to keep her home. A pity. Oh well, I can have others."

The words echoed laced in a false sense of bitterness. For this illegitimate daughter, Celestial Slaughter made many provisions, taking his foes east when they thought her west, and southwest when they thought her north. He even provided her with outstanding Fate Standards. Alas, though her mind recalled her true self, she still chose the rod over him—the sorrow of fatherhood.

His eyes shifted back to Konrad.

"Child, having managed to rob me of my possession, you can die contented. Don't worry, I will just butcher your consorts. No sense in taking them for myself."

Celestial Slaughter stated and stepped forward. The radiant luminescence of his omnipotence erupted, dazzling the world and Konrad facing its brunt as the new Almighty vanished to reappear before him!

Or so the onlookers initially thought. When trillions of palm strikes, kicks, chopping hands, and claws surrounded Konrad from all sides, it soon became evident that his foe was everywhere!

"True Omnipresence."

Konrad realized, and indeed, he was right. As a True Almighty, Celestial Slaughter didn't merely possess Omnipotence. Other aspects of Supremacy such as Omniscience and Omnipresence were his to use in their most perfect form.

This was an enemy that knew everything, was everywhere, and could do anything.

Who could fight him?

Who dared fight him?!

Konrad dared!

With his hands tightly clasped around the handle, Konrad swept his sword in a horizontal slash!

"God Executing Immortal Art, Second Form: Infinite Murdering!"

*CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG*

Alas, it was as if Celestial Slaughter's flesh was made out of the most indestructible of metals throughout creation. To say nothing of flesh, the God Executing Immortal Sword's relentless hacking couldn't even dent the tiniest part of his clothes! But still, Konrad chopped, for if he stopped, he lost!

The trillions of strikes vanished, replaced by the form of Celestial Slaughter dropping on Konrad with a finger strike! In that index, the might of Omnipotence exploded, threatening Konrad's life with its every breath!

For once in his incomparably lengthy life, Celestial Slaughter knew that he needn't strategize, he needn't think or wonder. He needed only act, for he couldn't lose! True invincibility, the summit of strength was finally his!

*BANG*

Konrad met the blow with his sword bent in a horizontal, defensive stance, the flat collided with Celestial Slaughter's finger, and in that instant, Konrad activated his Void Mirror Physique!

"Mirror Image!"

Konrad bellowed and, even as his body tumbled throughout the infinitely vast space,  driven by the 90 broken locks - his Void Mirror Physique did the unthinkable - copying Celestial Slaughter's Omnipotence!

*SNAP*

Cracks spread throughout the God Executing Immortal Sword, and even as Konrad suffered a monstrous backlash, the blade snapped in two! With a spin, Konrad hacked his broken sword at Celestial Slaughter's neck, smashing right into it with the very power of his Omnipotence! With a ringing sound, the Almighty spiralled leftward, stabilizing only after crossing dozens of meters.

Konrad's fall ended, and he rose back into the sky, shooting right back at Celestial Slaughter without giving him room for breath!

"Get lost!"

The Almighty's voice echoed like an irresistible command, and though backed by his copied Omnipotence, Konrad could barely resist it! His advance met an invisible barrier, but mustering his full strength, Konrad could resist shooting backward, merely teetering instead!

This was not a force his negation abilities could suppress, only that copied Omnipotence could allow him to struggle but even if he did, victory seemed hopeless!

"Delusional child. How can one defeat the undefeatable? Vanquish the invincible? What a joke. Challenging Omnipotence is a paradox."

Celestial Slaughter scoffed, and raised his hands, causing myriads of irresistible light discs to fill the sky and from all corners, assail Konrad! At the same time, Celestial Slaughter vanished, turned into a light meteor and flew into his target!

But then his form blurred, and instead of the front, he was at the back, from the back he was below, above, everywhere and nowhere all at the same time!

*BANG*

By the time the Celestial-Slaughter-meteor hit him, Konrad had spun on so many angles that the world around him swirled, and he suffered the first dizzy spell of nearly two millenniums!

The meteor blast sent him right into the shower of omnipotent light discs, threatening to mince him into powder!

"Innate Skill: Absolute Defense!"

Konrad didn't bother using Might Reversal abilities because reversing omnipotence was...a paradox! With his mastery of infiniteness, he endlessly warped space to give himself enough room for maneuver. Alas, even his Infiniteness Insight failed to resist the Almighty's pressure!

*SLASH*

An eruption of tearing sounds filled the sky as the myriads of light disks hacked at Konrad's flesh! Putting his everything in his Absolute Defense and mirrored Omnipotence, Konrad resisted the blow, still, his non-Almighty flesh couldn't endure, and the discs gashed him from all sides, turning him into a garish mess of blood!

The consorts didn't scream, the children didn't wail, the retainers stood still, yet all came to the same conclusion:

"The fight is hopeless!"

That being the case, what need was there to wait? What need was there to hold back?! They might as well break into one last dance, and to the end fight alongside their monarch! Not a single person spoke, yet all joined for a final flight! But they'd not even taken three steps, that Yvonne's voice thundered!

"STEP BACK!"

Instantly, all came to a halt, for in that voice they heard a very simple fact. Someone still believed that the situation would experience an unexpected turn! And hearing that voice, Konrad's lips curled into a smile.

Celestial Slaughter, however, sneered in derision.

"The folly of lovestruck fools. If omnipotence can be defeated, it is not...omnipotence! Allow me to end the paradoxical notions of your Jade Dynasty once and for all!"

Celestial Slaughter's form burst into spinning light arrows that surrounded Konrad and slammed into his wounds! With every one of the radiant arrows' brush, Konrad's wounds intensified and his empyrean figure soon turned into an unrecognizable mess of gore!

But even then, he held onto his sword, and though broken, its fighting will remained undaunted! Celestial Slaughter reformed 15 meters above, aiming his right index at the nothingness towering still above him. From the pitch-black space, the splendor of omnipotence morphed into a light dragon whose length could cover the entirety of the omniverse! With three heads and six wings, the dragon's dwarfing, monstrous face contrasted with the splendor of its omnipotence!

But even before that inconceivable foe, Konrad didn't waver, his hair erratically fluttered, his lips curved into a fiendish grin, and with a guttural roar, he launched himself at the dragon!

"ROOOOOOOOOOAR!"

With a feral roar, the dragon met Konrad's assault, dropping onto him with the weight of the omniverse!

The radiant reptilian monster opened its maws, releasing three orbs of crackling lightning around which white flame petals swirled. The beast fired the three orbs in radiantly horrifying beams that met Konrad's desperate, broken sword slash with absolute confidence!

The devils watched in awe as their sovereign took on this invincible foe, but shockingly as his form neared his infinitely larger opponent, Konrad pulled out the Firmament Fruit he'd set aside, and shoved it down his throat, swallowing it one go!

None could understand why, none had the time to. 

"God Executing Immortal Art, Final Form: Extermination Anima!"

Konrad bellowed, became one with the God Executing Immortal sword and turned into a massive black veil. The veil morphed, becoming a gargantuan lion of oppressive darkness. From that lion's glowing red eyes, soul-rending extermination will rippled, and Celestial Slaughter aside, all that glanced at it shivered in fright!

The Extermination Anima tore through the beams, tore through the flame hurricanes surrounding them, and as they collapsed into ember and light particles, the lion rose to slam into the dragon, embroiling it in a macabre, aerial dance! Alas, the clash of lion and dragon was short-lived!

The reptile took dominance, tearing the lion into two perfect halves with its maw!

"Hahahahahaha!"

As the lion collapsed, it left behind the broken form of Konrad, missing the left half of his body, and another one half of his sword. But as his mangled form dropped, pulling tears and anguish from his relatives, Konrad maniacally laughed!

"Did despair get over your head? You think the fruit will magically let you break through the final realm? To say nothing of the fact that Shadow is gone, and with it all your hopes, even if you broke through, so what?

I am Omnipotent. Cultivation cannot challenge me!"

With that last sentence, Celestial Slaughter reappeared above the mangled Konrad, and struck!

*CRACK*

His right knee sank into Konrad's face, shattering his skull on the spot! Omnipotence wreaked havoc in Konrad, eroding his very existence as his corpse tumbled toward the ground.

For indeed, Konrad was dead.

His Devil Heart...no longer beat!

Only his Supreme Will remained, and alongside his Firmament Bridge, supported his feeble existence. But even those faced immediate threats. And as his existence collapsed, as the hearts of all devils on the scene came a halt, Konrad's mind drifted into the Void Mirror Physique and the copied Omnipotence within, from the Void Mirror, Konrad relived everything, from the Time Paradoxes that marked Celestial Slaughter's appearance to the succession of events that followed, to Celestial Slaughter becoming Almighty and the soul-tearing sensation he experienced upon mirroring his Omnipotence.

He relieved it all, and with the Firmament fruit's energies swelling his veins, he made them a template!

In that instant, Konrad realized that Celestial Slaughter was right, challenging Omnipotence was nothing more than a Paradox.

To defeat the Almighty? A paradox!

To rule all throughout eternity without surrendering anything in return? A Paradox!

His aspirations, all were paradoxes! Therefore, his final realm could only be...a Paradox!

Konrad's dropping corpse halted. His only remaining hand trembled. His remaining eye quivered and, though the onlookers couldn't see it, his bridge appeared, rising to impossible heights as it completed its final step!

In the instant the step completed, Konrad's omnipotence-inflicted wounds vanished, his missing left half grew back, his eyes opened wide, and he hurled the broken sword at the Omnipotent Dragon!

One hissing sound, and the God Executing Immortal Sword lodged in the Dragon's central head, tearing through it to appear beyond!

*BOOOOOOOM!*

The most deafening of blasts rang, and the Omnipotent Dragon collapsed!

Yes!

Before Celestial Slaughter's astounded eyes, Omnipotence crumbled!

Konrad stood up, vanished to reappear before Celestial Slaughter and…

*BANG*

Headbutted him with full force!

The dazed Celestial Slaughter hurtled through space, never stopping mid-flight. He couldn't resist, neither did he have the will to!

Confused!

He was utterly confused!

"Impossible...this is...impossible…"

The hurtling Celestial Slaughter stammered, as his body became a red flame ball from speed alone!

*BANG*

Another headbutt met the back of his skull, sending him flying in the opposite direction! But there, another one awaited!

*BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!*

Headbutts upon headbutts slammed Celestial Slaughter from all sides, bashing him like a ragdoll, first on the skull only, and when it became too hard to recognize, the headbutts rained on his chest and back instead! The vibrations alone shattered his bones to the last!

"AAAAAAAAARGH!"

The dazed Almighty roared in pain!

But as his mind collapsed, Konrad clutched his neck within his right hand, caught his broken sword in the left, and shoved it down Celestial Slaughter's throat!

"I always wanted to tell you one thing:

Bitch, shut the fuck up!"

And as those words echoed, Konrad's sword tore Celestial Slaughter's tongue, mangled his throat, and as it forced its way through the back of his neck, Konrad tore out his vocal cords, and they didn't heal!