Chapter 808: Act 158 – Resurrection IV
Kuurk Fortress, 4 PM—
Lemo was almost jolted awake from the sofa. He looked at his coffee table, desk, and bookshelf, all shaking as if bewitched, sliding across the room in one direction. The teacup on the table rattled incessantly. “An earthquake!” This terrifying thought had just emerged in his mind when a loud bang resonated as the double walnut doors were smashed open by a guard.
His confidant rushed in, but his expression was no better than Lemo’s. “M-Milord… you’d better come take a look.”
“Where’s Her Highness the Princess?”
Lemo sprang from the sofa like a leopard, grabbing his confidant by the collar and shouting, “Quickly evacuate everyone!”
The confidant shook his head desperately, and it was at that moment that a calm, soothing voice came from outside, “Sir Knight Commander, let him go, calm down.” The voice startled Lemo, making him release his confidant. He lifted his head and saw Princess Grifian standing behind the swaying doors, accompanied by several knights, while Duke Vieiro in his robe followed closely. The princess appeared unbothered, and the duke showed no signs of panic either, though dust from the ceiling occasionally drifted down like smoke onto both of them, but no one paid it any mind.
Lemo turned slightly red, not expecting the princess to arrive at this moment; he had been too deeply asleep earlier. “Your Highness, we need to leave the building quickly,” he suggested immediately.
“No need, this is not an earthquake,” Princess Grifian replied. “Knight Commander, take your men and notify the wizards at the Tower of Stars and Moon to activate the city’s magical defenses.”
“Magical defenses?”
Lemo froze momentarily, could it be that they were under attack?
He instinctively cast a dubious glance at the others. Princess Grifian sighed, but only his confidant cautiously moved close and whispered, “My lord, just go take a look, and you’ll understand.”
…
Wolers, 3:55 PM—
The alarm bells rang long and loud from the tower of the temple, and the Griffin Guard ascended into the sky immediately, flying in all directions. The treetops of the lush forests surrounding the town swayed as if caught in a storm, waves of green canopies rolling over to reveal grayish-white leaves underneath. Shockwaves rippled down from the sky through the clouds, scattering the wispy light clouds. The monks poured out, forming long lines on the city walls. At the four corners of the city center, the spires flickered with intense magical radiance.
In a blink, a light purple hemispherical barrier opened above the entire city, enveloping the area from Mandolin Market to the Water Gate completely.
From above, the city was seen from the sky, a panicking crowd gathering along the streets towards the city center, as if some invisible fear drove them forward.
In the central square, the governor Kanin looked pale, staring up as if facing the end of the world, murmuring:
“Oh, Martha, please protect your people!”
Behind him, the chief of security’s roar was like that of an enraged dragon: “What the hell are you idiots doing just standing around! Go notify the Temple of Fire! Hurry! Tell them we’re finished! All of us!”
“Have them check who it is! Who cast this spell!”
The patrol knights scattered in every direction.
…
Toquinin Fortress, 4:10 PM—
In stark contrast to the tense atmosphere of Wolers, this golden city of lions seemed wrapped in a silence spell that enveloped the entire city.
The whole city stood still. Every street, every square, even the entrances of markets and shops, the lionmen with heads and faces like lions, long manes flowing, dwarves wielding sharp axes, gray-skinned halflings, each appeared like puppet figures frozen in magic, all gazing blankly at the sky.
Just moments before, the sky had been overcast, but it was as if a ripple began to spread out from the city, dispersing all the clouds, the shockwaves rolling outwards, tearing and shredding the thick cloud cover until it transformed into whorls of light clouds floating away toward the distant horizon. The sky beyond the clouds turned a deep azure, the sunlight beamed down sharply, clear as a lake surface without a flaw.
A cloudless sky.
The golden spires of the Asamoye Temple shimmered in the sunlight.
Yet, no one cheered, no one admired such a miracle, not even daring to make the slightest sound.
The golden palace gates swung wide open, and the elderly lion priest stepped out of the temple, supported by accompanying monks. Clad in flowing white robes, they seemed like waves. But everyone still looked skyward, almost lifelessly kneeling down, praying for forgiveness from the gods.
In the deep blue sky.
The Tiamat ritual diagram’s white lines were clear as if drawn with chalk on a blackboard, though those varying thickness, non-intersecting arc lines spanned half the sky, each with a diameter exceeding thousands of miles. The lines resembled white trails emanating from distant light clouds, crossing overhead and extending to the other side of the horizon.
Several vertical lines extended toward the center of the entire diagram; such a magnificent sight could only be witnessed on the clearest of days.
Yet today, this scene only suffocated those who witnessed it.
The white ritual circles were overlapping in layers, as if transferring from another half of the sky. Although there was no sound, it resonated with a thunderous roar in people’s hearts. Each layer merged into the next, sweeping across hundreds of miles of sky, and ultimately these rotating gears aligned perfectly with Toquinin Fortress.
Heavy pressure descended from the sky.
At that moment, everyone in the entire city uncontrollably prostrated themselves.
As if listening to divine teachings.
…
Nemeses looked up.
The buzzing sound had grown louder; the Broken Sword Knights were slowly pulling back, and at that moment, an indescribable feeling surged within the gathered few. It felt as if they were witnessing a tremendous force, indescribable in words, breaking out of its shell. The retreating Nemeses and Xiao Peiluo turned around in unison.
Suddenly, the light flickered, and everyone saw a faintly glowing circle gathering from all directions. The speed appeared slow but was actually swift; Xiao Peiluo quickly assessed that the light gathered from as far west as Violet Fortress to as far east as Kuurk, covering several hundred miles, arriving in an instant. The light waves swept past their position, converging towards the center of that black architectural cluster.
In just a blink.
The light patterns completely converged together, forming a dazzling sphere of light.
Then, a beam of light shot straight up from the center of the sphere, bursting through the cloud layers above, causing the clouds to ripple like water, undulating in waves. Even just the aftershock made everyone feel a heart-stopping terror.
“This… this is…”
…
Kehua lightly pointed with her hand.
In the scene, there was only pure white left, the white light rapidly diffusing outward from the beam’s point of impact, like a tsunami engulfing the entire city. Tall towers, city walls, fortresses, and Toquinin’s iconic golden spires were swallowed up by the blinding light. There was no earth-shattering explosion, no sound of collapsing buildings, no screams, no fire; only flawless white light remained, as if it were the very light that descended from Martha at the world’s birth.
After the light vanished.
Toquinin, the stronghold of pride for the lionmen, was completely erased from this world, leaving no trace of its existence. And the thirty-four thousand lionmen, dwarves, and halflings who resided in the city were utterly reduced to ashes. All that remained on the Toquinin plain was a deep pit several miles in diameter, smoke still curling upwards, bearing witness to the event that had just unfolded.
Brendel stared in shock at this scene.
Divine Judgment, a level 14 spell of the light element.
Kehua didn’t even blink, her finger pointing to another scene—Wolers.
“You’ve gone mad!” Brendel shouted in horror, staring at the other two scenes—Ampere Seale and Kuurk.
Princess Grifian was still in Kuurk!
Kehua turned and looked at Brendel with her now emotionless silver eyes, asking, “Why do you say that, Mr. Human? Was it not you who awakened me?” Her voice echoed throughout the hall without a hint of remorse or excitement, as if it were just so and nothing more.
“The ones who awakened you are followers of the Everything Returns Society; it has nothing to do with us! Those people are innocent!”
“The followers of the Everything Returns Society are also of the Black Iron lineage and hold the power to determine the world’s fate.”
“They are a bunch of rejects whose minds are corrupted by the dusk!”
“That’s why you have made yourselves messengers of destruction,” Kehua replied with a smug smile.
“Damn it!”
Brendel leaped up and slashed at Kehua hovering above the platform with his sword, but the blade seemed to hit an invisible wall ten feet away, the space around the impact trembling violently, sending ripples of hexagonal light radiating outward from that spot. Kehua glanced at him, her left hand shifting toward his direction, and a blazing white discharge of static energy radiated from her, causing Brendel to scream as he was flung backward, crashing heavily onto the ground.
With that one blow, he lost a quarter of his life.
He grit his teeth as he climbed back up, but just then, a hand pressed down on his shoulder from behind. Brendel barely noticed when Veronika and Mephistopheles had appeared behind him, the two sword saints having landed Peiya and Aruta on the ground; they had likely fainted once again during the fall and had not yet awakened. Both of them gazed up at Kehua in the hall’s center in unison. “Brendel, what’s going on?” Veronika was the first to ask.
“Quickly stop her! She’s destroying the cities depicted in the projection; she can control Milos’s body and uses Milos’s divine power at will!” Brendel gasped and quickly replied, relieved at the arrival of Veronika and the teacher. With the three of them combined, their strength was not lesser than a whole team of level fifty players in the game.
Veronika quickly recognized the Wolers depicted in the holographic projection, her expression changing. Without any further movement, the rapier in her sheath automatically unsheathed with a clang, appearing in her hand. Brendel glanced at her sword; it wasn’t the Celestial Blue, just a finely crafted magical sword. He then realized that the female commander’s strength seemed to have grown; he couldn’t tell if it was due to the Loop of Trade Winds’ influence or the result of the Great Magic Tide.
“A complete state of the true god?” Mephistopheles frowned and asked.
Upon hearing the question, Brendel managed to calm down.
No, from Kehua’s previous words, it was clear that she was still in the process of integrating with Milos’s body. In this state, she could at best be regarded as a pseudo-god. However, even as a pseudo-god, she was qualitatively different from a mortal. The layer of light surrounding her was the legendary divine barrier, and attacks from the mortal realm could not penetrate this barrier. But damn it, how should this battle be fought? If even Kehua herself couldn’t be attacked, wouldn’t it just be a one-sided slaughter?
Impossible.
If Kehua were truly that legendary hidden boss, just like what the Awakening God Sulash mentioned, then there should be some kind of flaw.
Brendel narrowed his eyes, already seeing Veronika dart towards Kehua. Her speed was astonishing, resembling a shadow of teal as she swiftly circled to Kehua’s back. She halted, raising her long sword, crossing it in front of her, and a gigantic cyan dragon shot from her blade, racing towards Kehua. However, just as with Brendel’s earlier attack, the cyan dragon disintegrated upon hitting the barrier, and the hexagonal mesh immediately materialized, rebounding a circle of static halo. Before the halo could close in on Veronika, she cleaved it in two with her blue sword, negating any effect on her.
In a heartbeat, Veronika completed her attack and counteraction, landing lightly next to Brendel, her brows deeply furrowed. “Absolute disparity?” She looked at Brendel.
Brendel nodded.
Absolute disparity represents the chasm between all powers and divine powers in the mortal realm; it is the core rule of the Tiamat laws—divine power, also known as absolute law, is a force of existence that takes precedence over all other laws and orders. Only existential force can influence deities; mortal strength at such a level resembles bubbles—no matter how splendid, it is entirely meaningless.
“She isn’t a true god; how could there be absolute disparity between us?” Veronika bit her lip as she asked this question.
Brendel shook his head in confusion.
Indeed, Kehua was not yet a true god, how could there be an absolute disparity? Yet, that divine barrier unquestionably embodied a form of absolute disparity. Moreover, since such a thing as absolute disparity emerged, how could this battle possibly unfold? He felt certain that something was off; this level of combat couldn’t have been prepared for players. He scanned his surroundings, searching for that potential flaw, yet at that moment, another idea was subtly forming in his mind.
This is a world quest.
The world line in the game had split into two here.
The players of that year had chosen the former path, while he had mistakenly chosen the latter. The future line had been completely altered.
But whether that was good or bad remained to be seen.
