Dawkins, who had just summoned black thunder and instantly slain two Phase King Magicians, was not the true Goddess of Destruction. She was merely a fragment of the Goddess of Destruction’s soul.
A single fragment of soul already wielded such terrifying power. How mighty, then, must her true form be?
The old emperor, the old guard, and the others were so shocked that they could not speak. At last, Lars asked, “How is she now?”
“She is only a little weary,” Greydon said as he held Dawkins. While he spoke, a plant sprouted rapidly from the flat ground beside him. It was a tree, yet the sapling grew at a speed visible to the naked eye, expanding and shaping itself into a chair. Greydon gently settled her onto it.
Everyone stared in amazement at this miracle.
Greydon explained softly, “Grey Town does not belong to the Castro Continent. This is a region independent of that land. It is my divine domain. Here, I control everything.”
“Divine domain?” The word stunned several of them.
“You may understand it as this: here, I am omnipotent,” Greydon replied. He turned to the undead Mishar and beckoned her with a wave.
“Town… Town Leader…” Mishar’s voice trembled as she drifted slowly towards him.
Her childhood memories had grown extremely faint. She recalled only the name of this place. The people and things here had long since blurred in her mind. Yet, strangely, the moment she returned, her memories flooded back with perfect clarity. She remembered the plump man before her. In her recollection, he looked exactly the same as he did now, and so did Sister Dawkins.
Dawkins appeared as an eighteen-year-old girl, and in Mishar’s memory she had always been an eighteen-year-old girl.
The plump town leader and the blonde sister with poor eyesight had remained unchanged for countless years. Only some unknown force had prevented the residents of Grey Town from ever noticing anything unusual.
Mishar reached Greydon. He lightly patted her head and smiled. “My descendant, you have suffered much in the years you were away.”
“When the pirates took her that year, God of Gourmet,” Elizabeth spoke up, “if you possess such great power, why could you not stop them?” After Mishar’s abduction, she had endured many hardships. Life in Pirate Bay as a child had been far from pleasant, and now she had become an undead.
Greydon glanced at Elizabeth, sighed, and said, “The year she was taken, I stood by and watched.”
“Then why did you not intervene?” Elizabeth demanded at once. Her anxiety made her tone sharp. She was simply that kind of fiery woman.
Even Stari jumped in fright and hurriedly tugged her arm.
Greydon appeared unconcerned and shook his head. “It was all the choice of fate. The Goddess of Fate watches everything from the river of fate. She arranged for Mishar to be taken, so that years later Mishar would meet you, and meet the one chosen by the gods. That person would learn of Grey Town through Mishar, and then you would all gather here.”
“What choice of fate…” Elizabeth frowned.
“The Goddess of Fate, Eva?” Stari said in surprise. “Mr Ye Chui once mentioned her to me. He said she is watching his actions from somewhere.”
“The war between the gods and the devils hinges most crucially on control of the river of fate. Though the gods fell, they were never truly defeated. The Goddess of Fate, Eva, is the final defence of the gods’ clan,” Greydon said gravely. He swept his gaze across those present: Stari, Elizabeth, the old emperor, the old guard, Lars, and Mishar. Then he continued, “And all of you have been chosen by Eva. You will bear great responsibility in the battle to come.”
“What kind of responsibility?” Greydon’s words made everyone stand in solemn silence.
“I do not know,” he replied, “because the one who knows what must be done is currently on the Divine Sin Continent.”
Greydon smiled. “But for now, at least, our task is to rescue them from the Divine Sin Continent.”
“Then what must we do?” the old emperor asked urgently. He had come to Grey Town precisely to find a way off the Divine Sin Continent. “God of Gourmet, you once escaped the Divine Sin Continent yourself. You must know how to leave that place.”
Greydon looked at the old emperor and gave a strange smile. “Who told you I ever escaped the Divine Sin Continent?”
The words left everyone stunned.
“Miss Dawkins is the key to escaping the Divine Sin Continent,” Lars said, puzzled. “Since she is with you, naturally…”
Greydon shook his head. “After the fall of the gods, I have remained here. I never entered the Divine Sin Continent, nor did I escape from it. Another person escaped, and that person brought Dawkins to me and entrusted her to my care.”
Something seemed to occur to Greydon. He looked at the old emperor. “You know of someone who escaped the Divine Sin Continent because your ancestor visited this place a thousand years ago. At that time, the escapee was also in Grey Town and had some contact with him. The reason you know of this matter is in fact the work of Eva.”
“This…”
The old emperor nodded in astonishment. He had stumbled upon the secret records of the Star Empire. After he read them, the records were destroyed by fire. He alone in the world knew that an ancestor of the Star Empire had come to Grey Town and met someone who had fled the Divine Sin Continent.
All of it had been arranged by the Goddess of Fate, solely to bring the old emperor to Grey Town.
“Then who was the person who escaped the Divine Sin Continent all those years ago?” the old guard asked.
To escape from the hell of legend, that person must have possessed extraordinary power. If it was not the god before them, then who could it have been?
“It was…” Greydon softly spoke a name.
At the sound of that name, everyone present froze, mouths agape, utterly unable to believe their ears.
“How can this be? The one who once escaped the Divine Sin Continent was actually…” The old emperor felt his mind reeling. “It makes no sense at all.”
“The absence of sense is the greatest sense of all.”
Greydon smiled faintly and went on. “The battle between gods and devils is approaching its final clash. The wheel of fate has turned to its last notch, and you will all become the most vital part of it. Now set forth. Take Dawkins to the Doomsday Mountains and await the return of Ye Chui and the others.”
At Greydon’s words, the old emperor suddenly paused. “Wait. You… are you not coming with us?”
Greydon gave a wry smile. “I told you, this place does not belong to the Castro Continent. It is my divine domain. I am a god, and gods cannot exist upon the Castro Continent. We would be devoured by the most dreadful Godfall Rule. Therefore I cannot leave. But I shall grant you aid.”
“What kind of aid?” Stari asked curiously.
“Like this…”
Greydon raised the bamboo spear in his hand and drew a deep breath.
The old emperor and the others exchanged glances. Was he about to cheer them on?
Yet what happened next struck awe into their eyes.
Greydon gripped the bamboo spear tightly, turned, aimed in a certain direction, gathered his strength for a moment, and with a whoosh hurled it forth.
The instant the spear left his hand, it vanished from sight and slipped into the void.
“What… are you doing?” the old guard asked, bewildered.
“Killing the Bell Phase.”
Greydon spoke calmly.
…
The Giant Spirit Phase, the Aquarius Phase, and the Bell Phase had travelled to Grey Town on the Pope’s orders to retrieve the key to leaving the Divine Sin Continent. Yet Grey Town far exceeded their expectations. It concealed gods who had survived to this day: the God of Gourmet and the Goddess of Destruction.
The Bell Phase could not believe that the blonde girl with poor eyesight was truly the legendary Goddess of Destruction, the super-deity said to rank in combat power just below the God of Gods and the Goddess of Wealth among the gods’ clan.
The Giant Spirit Phase and the Aquarius Phase died on the spot. The Bell Phase exhausted every ounce of strength to escape at the final moment.
While Greydon spoke with the old emperor and the others, the Bell Phase burned through several priceless high-level teleportation scrolls, transmitting himself all the way back to the magic capital of the Holy Heart Kingdom. His figure appeared amid white light on the square before the Tower of Time.
Countless passers-by on the square jumped in alarm.
When they saw it was the Bell Phase, they bowed in respect, yet seeing his pale face and the blood trickling from his mouth, they could not help feeling deep astonishment.
“Father?” Krian’s voice came from one side. He hurried over. “Why have you returned so suddenly? Were you not assisting His Holiness the Pope?”
A graceful figure followed Krian. It was the newly promoted Heavenly Lady Phase Magician, Bosli. Her face showed impatience, perhaps from being pestered by Krian for a date, or perhaps from worry over Green, who had been banished to the Divine Sin Continent.
She had never held any fondness for the Bell Phase, yet his status far outranked hers. Curious why he had teleported back, she approached as well.
Up close, Bosli’s eyes changed sharply. She sensed something gravely wrong with the Bell Phase.
“You are severely injured. Who possesses such power?” Bosli asked in shock.
“Quick, contact the Church at once. Quick. In this world there are still—”
Supporting himself on Krian’s shoulder, the Bell Phase shouted in terror.
He meant to say there were still members of the gods’ clan alive, but before the words “gods’ clan” could leave his mouth, a streak of light flashed in the distant sky.
A terrifying aura of world-ending might descended from above.
Fear flickered across Bosli’s face. In an instant she cast five layers of supreme defensive ice magic, raising five fearsome ice walls before the Bell Phase.
Those walls could withstand the mightiest attack in the world.
Yet when the streak from the heavens fell, it pierced the five ice walls as easily as if they were sandcastles built by children on a beach. With a sharp hiss, a bamboo spear transfixed the Bell Phase’s chest. One end embedded itself in the stone pavement, pinning him to the ground.
This was the square before the Tower of Time. The square was covered in fearsome defensive arrays, and the ground was unimaginably hard. Yet a seemingly ordinary bamboo spear had flown here in plain sight, breached the defences of the Heavenly Lady Phase Magician, pierced straight through the Bell Phase’s body, and nailed him to the earth.
The Bell Phase’s mouth opened and closed. He tried to utter those words, but failed. Blood sprayed from his lips, his head lolled to one side, and he died.
Krian collapsed to the ground, pupils trembling. Only after a long while did he seem to recover, and then he let out a horrified scream. “Aaaah— Father! Father—”
Bosli frowned at the scene, turned to gaze at the distant horizon, and stood with mouth slightly open in shock.
What manner of power was this?
…
“The Bell Phase had already returned to the magic capital, yet I still slew him before the Tower of Time.”
After hurling the bamboo spear, Greydon acted as though he had done something trivial. He calmly brushed his sleeve and spoke, at the same time lifting his plump face slightly, ready to receive their astonished gazes.
Yet…
Everyone merely looked at one another.
It was not that they felt no shock. Truly, they no longer knew how to express their present emotions.
Seeing their dumbfounded faces, Greydon appeared rather disappointed. He waved a hand and continued, “Very well. You may depart. The deaths of three Phase King Magicians will soon be known at the Tower of Time. People will come here before long. You must leave quickly.”
“What should we do once we reach the Doomsday Mountains?” the old emperor asked.
“I do not know,” Greydon replied mysteriously, “but since this is fate’s arrangement, you will naturally understand when you arrive. If you encounter dire peril, I shall aid you.”
“Then we shall set off at once. We will certainly rescue Ye Chui and the others,” the old emperor promised without hesitation.
A dozen minutes later, a carriage slowly rolled out of Grey Town.
After leaving the town and looking back, they saw only a bank of mist enveloping the place. Even their memories of Grey Town had been subtly affected. For instance, they could no longer recall the name Greydon had spoken of the person who escaped the Divine Sin Continent.
This seemed deliberate on Greydon’s part.
Yet their purpose and resolve remained utterly firm. They would take Dawkins, open the gate of hell beneath the Doomsday Mountains, and save Ye Chui and the others.
The old emperor, the old guard, Lars, Stari, Elizabeth, Mishar, Dawkins.
This peculiar band of adventurers thus set out upon their quest.
In Grey Town, after the others had gone, Greydon seemed lost in thought. His face grew wistful as he walked to a wooden cabin deep within the town.
The cabin was simple, yet it had been his home for five thousand years.
Before it lay a small grave mound bearing a stone stele.
Upon the stele, written in divine script, were the words: Here fell Shian, Queen and Goddess of All Peoples.
Goddess of All Peoples, Shian.
Before Greydon became a god, he had been a knight who swore fealty to Princess Shian. Later, when she ascended as queen of the Blood Hammer Empire and was enthroned as Goddess of All Peoples, Greydon had continued to follow her.
In the war of the gods, the Goddess of All Peoples fell, yet Greydon lived on.
He gently caressed the stele, then waved his hand. The small mound rose, and a long spear burst from the earth and flew to his side.
Moments ago, Greydon had slain the Bell Phase from thousands of miles away. This had already revealed his existence. The Magic Union and the Church might not yet know his whereabouts, but the devils certainly did.
They would soon descend upon this place to hunt him, the sole surviving god from the war of the gods.
“Five thousand years ago I lived on in cowardice. This time, I shall fight these devils to the bitter end…”
