On the ritual platform, a blood-colored soul was slowly detaching from its host body. She offered no resistance, preparing to reveal her form of old. Just as she had when returning from the Underworld, she combined the three authorities into her complete form. The shadow of a giant snake appeared beneath her feet. The sound of rain from the sky grew louder, with faint flashes of lightning appearing in the distance.
“Boom!” A crack of thunder tore through the vaulted ceiling, as if trying to rip away the layers of dark clouds for the beings above, allowing them to once again gaze upon this god who was both breathtakingly beautiful and struggling on the edge of madness.
Faintly, waves of screams began to ring out. The sounds between heaven and earth seemed to grow clearer; she could distinctly hear the cries and shrieks of the world.
Her face remained devoid of expression. Nothing could move her anymore; after all, the loneliest thing in the world... was death itself.
Her physical form had not yet fully manifested. In the eyes of mortals, she was merely a phantom with a somewhat clear face, but in the eyes of magic users with some degree of strength, she felt faintly like a physical entity.
She looked elsewhere, as if searching for someone, but she did not seem to find her. In that moment, she seemed to hope to see the person she had always cared about.
This tiny spark of hope flashed and vanished. Although her thoughts were tangled with various mad ideas, her expression remained cold, as if she had already lost everything she cherished. Everything else was inconsequential, happening one by one exactly as she had predicted.
It was just as it lived in Clo’s memory—that expression of disregarding everything yet seemingly caring about it all. She had seen Li Yue inadvertently reveal it countless times.
She raised her head and began to look directly at the living beings before her... the heretics...
“Why did A Yue’s expression... appear in my mind at a time like this...?” Clo clutched her head. She seemed to see that Li Yue—or rather, Jormungandr—looking down with cold indifference, dragging a long black dress behind her, within which the souls of death flowed.
“Hey, human! Don't daze off!” The girl looked at Clo and hopped slightly, as if trying to catch her attention. Her expression was lively and cheerful, her white dress fluttering in the wind, overlapping with the cold image of Li Yue in Clo’s memory.
“Are you a bit nervous? Everyone here is a very gentle deity, so there’s no need to be afraid. Besides, you’re already very strong.” Jormungandr’s face leaned in close, making Clo unable to help blushing. “You’re only half a step away from becoming a god. Just like me, you’re only missing a catalyst.”
“No... I’m still missing an Authority.” Clo frowned, replaying Jormungandr’s words in her mind.
“Actually, it doesn’t matter. When the catalyst arrives, the final Authority will appear naturally.” Jormungandr smiled. “That’s just fate.”
“You said you... are also missing a catalyst?” Clo asked in surprise.
“Mm... I am a god... but I’m still a tiny bit away from becoming a true god. However, I still have to handle the duties of ‘Death.’” Jormungandr sighed. Her sharp fangs glinted in the sunlight. Although they hid a lethal intent, in Clo’s eyes, they were actually quite cute.
“But it doesn’t matter. Not many Mages have tried my path, and I am very strong.” The girl gestured with her hands, seemingly not wanting her grand image to collapse so easily before this girl. “Some gods aren't even a match for me, really.”
“Ah, right...” Clo gave a shallow smile. Her mind flooded with the shocking scenes from the day the God of Redemption descended. The pressure at that level had already caused her a wave of uncontrollable fear.
Without becoming a full god... she can defeat a monster like that...? Were you also that staggeringly strong in the past...?
No... that’s not right... the God of Death is a primary tier deity. Missing a catalyst must mean she lacks the final Authority. As a newly born god, she should already possess two authorities, and they would be perfectly compatible...
Her current strength is already greater than most gods... but this is truly too exaggerated... after all, there is a qualitative difference before and after ascending to godhood...
My staff was left at the academy... How did she see that I already possess an Authority...?
Clo thought as she walked, but she didn't notice that the impatient girl couldn't wait any longer. She gently took Clo’s hand and led her running through the flowers. Ahead was an endless field of flowers. For some reason, Clo felt as if this scenery was vividly etched in her mind...
That’s right... the first time I met her was in a field of white flowers just like this... At that time, she was also strolling through the field, but she didn't have those memories of being a god. She just told me that she felt inexplicably sad.
Clo suddenly remembered the expressions Li Yue had when she saw flower fields—whether it was just a few white Cecilia flowers, the circle of flowers by the cathedral, or the once-endless sea of white blossoms.
Did these things... remind her of the past... and the home she always spoke of, the one that no longer exists?
“Human, why are you always unhappy?” the girl said as she ran. Her voice echoed in the wind, making the gentle breeze feel even softer. “But it doesn’t matter. The humans who leave this place will have their suffering resolved.”
“Because this place is...” she murmured softly, her words carrying a hint of excitement and pride.
“The Never-Fading Golden Land.”
After passing through a massive field of flowers, they stopped by a cliff. Vegetation spread from beneath their feet into the buildings at the base of the mountain.
Towering rocky peaks interlaced, and waterfalls rushed down from the mountains like silver chains. From a distance, it looked as if the sky was flowing over the peaks, pouring onto the ground, and finally merging into the rivers that spread across the land.
Marble pillars supported a vast, symmetrical palace. This was an architectural landscape Clo had only ever seen in murals. They slowly walked to the foot of the mountain, where a stepped plinth supported the grand colonnade. On either side, olive trees rustled in the breeze.
This was the dwelling of gods, an eternal symbol of human reason and beauty—proportion, power, and myth converged here in perfection.
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