I Reborn as a God Within a Statue, And You Ask Me to Enslave All Gods?-Chapter 177 --Fusion, Once Again

Naturally, the reason Owen had been able to fuse his god skills this time so smoothly was primarily because of the deep understanding and insight he already possessed regarding god skills.

It was only thanks to the new perspective Heller provided that Owen managed to complete the fusion with such ease.

Even though the other gods present had now realized that god skills could indeed be fused—and that such fusion would result in an explosive increase in power—most of them were still unable to reach that threshold.

After all, the foundation of a fusion was the depth of one’s god skill mastery.

As a 2-star Peak Ancient God, Owen’s foundations surpassed all the gods present by far. He also had support from powerful artifacts like the Core Crystal and his recent breakthroughs in the Realm of Immortality.

Compared to him, the other gods were inferior in every aspect. Even if they somehow managed to forcefully fuse two god skills, the resulting power couldn’t hold a candle to the god skill fusion Owen had just displayed.

As the other gods looked on with increasing awe and trepidation, none of them could muster the will to challenge Owen further. After watching both of his duels, they realized that even if they exhausted every last reserve of power, they still wouldn’t be his match. Challenging him now would only lead to humiliation.

Just as everyone else quietly gave up, a new line of glowing text appeared before Owen’s eyes.

[Congratulations! You have secured First Place in the Dimensional Clash!]

Seeing the message, Owen nodded with satisfaction.

While becoming the champion had been within his expectations, it still felt satisfying to officially receive the title.

After all, this was the collision of two entire realms, and he had come out on top. The rewards for first place were sure to be beyond imagination!

At that thought, Owen’s attention immediately turned to the system’s ranking interface.

The previously-vacant first-place slot was now gleaming with radiant light. Owen tapped on it.

The first-place rewards appeared at once.

[Congratulations. You have earned more than 1000 points. The Treasure Vault is now unlocked.]

[You may now use your accumulated points to select suitable rare treasures from the vault.]

After reading the system message, a divine radiance descended upon him. A moment later, Owen found himself seated upon a majestic throne.

From that throne, an overwhelming divine aura emanated outward. Within it, Owen could sense an increasingly potent Order fluctuation, one that deepened his understanding of Order with every passing second.

Sitting upon the throne, Owen now truly resembled a god above all others, gazing down from on high at the many gods below who had now descended into chaotic battle.

That sensation—overlooking the land from such heights—was deeply intoxicating. It felt as though he had transcended the battlefield, viewing everything from a higher plane of existence.

"I wonder what this throne is made of... the Order fluctuations within it are astonishing. My understanding of god skill Order is growing sharper by the moment," Owen muttered in awe.

Indeed, the perks of being first place were more than just rewarding—they were joyous beyond imagination.

If only he could remain on this throne longer.

He was certain that if given more time, he could fuse even more god skills. With that, both his offensive and defensive capabilities would see tremendous improvement.

With this goal in mind, Owen withdrew his divine consciousness from the chaotic skirmishes below. He had no interest in the fights among lesser gods. His focus shifted entirely toward fusing god skills.

Compared to the others, Owen now possessed a Divine Vessel—a monumental advantage.

The Divine Vessel significantly amplified both attack and defense. If he could combine it with the Light Shield god skill, the enhancement would be phenomenal—particularly in the realm of defense.

Under normal circumstances, fusing these two would have been exceedingly difficult. But now, seated on this throne, the process was progressing several times—no, dozens of times—faster!

Meanwhile, below, the divine aura emanating from Owen’s throne grew heavier, its majesty causing the other gods to look up at him with eyes full of reverence and envy.

They had all entered the battlefield with the goal of claiming first place.

And yet, the battle had barely begun, and the victor had already been decided.

Worse still, that victor was now physically seated above them, overlooking them all like a monarch from the heavens.

They had all started from the same point—not long ago, they were all nameless gods, struggling to climb the ladder. Yet now, the gap had widened to such an extreme that it left them breathless.

A 2-star Peak Ancient God...

He had completely crushed the competition.

Now, all they could do was gaze up at him in awe and powerlessness.

"Everyone, the second place belongs to me—Lassal!" a confident voice echoed across the battlefield. "If anyone disagrees, step forward and fight!"

Now that Owen had claimed first, Lassal felt a weight lifted from his shoulders. He raised his head and scanned the other gods with fierce confidence.

With a monster like Owen removed from the equation, he saw no serious threats among the rest.

However, not everyone agreed with that assessment.

"Oh? You think you can claim second place so easily?" a pale-skinned man sneered as he stepped forward. He had the aura of a noble baron, graceful and refined.

"I don’t think so. You’re not qualified for second place—hand it over to me!"

Without waiting for a reply, the man charged forward toward Lassal.

In an instant, the Rainbow Bridge beneath them began to tremble violently, and divine light burst in all directions.

...

It was unclear how much time passed.

But eventually, thrones began to materialize below Owen.

Each throne was soon occupied by a powerful god radiating immense divine presence.

Aside from Owen’s resplendent golden throne, there were only two silver thrones. The rest were all black-iron thrones, ordinary and unremarkable.

Of the two silver thrones beneath Owen, the one in second place was occupied by Charlotte from the Taylor Plane.

The third throne was taken by Heller.

As for Lassal—he had fallen all the way to tenth place.

His expression was pale, and for someone so prideful, that ranking was difficult to swallow.

He could accept that he wasn’t a match for Owen—after all, Owen existed on an entirely different plane.

But Charlotte and Heller?

They were monsters in their own right. Both had mastered fusion god skills, and with everyone at roughly the same Godhood rank, those fusion skills made their combat power nearly unstoppable.

On top of that, all the other gods had proven incredibly difficult to deal with, pushing Lassal steadily downward until he landed at tenth place.

Tenth!

The reward for that position couldn’t even compare to the top three.

Lassal let out a long, frustrated sigh.

He had trained diligently after the last tournament. And yet, it was clear that the others had not slacked either—if anything, their progress had been even faster than his.

Still... this clash of planes had resulted in victory for their side.

After all, Owen had secured first place. Thanks to his absurdly high point total, their cumulative score had surpassed the Taylor Plane’s.

That meant all gods from their plane would receive a reward.

At that comforting thought, Lassal looked once more at Owen’s golden throne.

Without Owen, the Taylor Plane would’ve won for sure.

Owen’s point total alone had pushed them past Taylor by over 800 points!

That was more than the combined scores of everyone else in the top ten.

"Although I lost this time... there will be more opportunities in the future. Next time, second place will be mine!"

Lassal clenched his fists and steeled his heart.

As for first place?

He entertained the thought for a moment—then promptly gave it up.

Owen was now so far ahead that chasing after him seemed impossible. In the next rankings, he might leave them even further behind.

That was the nature of divine competition.

A single step ahead... leads to a lifetime of dominance.

And the longer one waited to catch up, the harder it became.

Still, Lassal was certain that his gap with the others wasn’t that wide.

"...Fine. No more frequent visits to those female devotees. Once every ten days—no, once every fifteen!" he muttered with resignation.

...

"Finally... Divine Vessel and Light Shield are fully fused!" Owen’s eyes snapped open as a pleased smile appeared on his face.

These two god skills were far from ordinary. Both were defensive in nature, and now that they had been fused, his defense had increased by at least threefold!

Even at this preliminary fusion stage, not even a tier-8 Peak Awakener could shake this new god skill combo.

Previously, if he wanted to withstand an attack from a tier-8 Peak Awakener, he had to activate over a hundred different god skills at once.

Now?

He needed just one—this fusion god skill!

"Excellent," Owen murmured. "Not only did I claim first place, I’ve also seen a brand-new path forward."

He was no longer lacking divine points. Nor was he short on god skills. However, as his Godhood rank grew higher, his demand for combat power increased exponentially.

In the past, he had relied on sheer quantity of god skills to overwhelm opponents. But that method had its limits.

Now, things were different.

He had achieved a qualitative leap in power.

"It seems I’ll need to devote part of my time to the study and fusion of god skills from now on," he decided. "For gods like us, this may be the ultimate path to strength."

With that resolution made, Owen turned once more to his system interface...