Chapter Nine: The Fall of the Divine Kingdom!
February 14, 2016
Author: Zhu Sheng Floating Tower
The light of dawn rises.
Gloria slowly stands up, stretching her slightly uncomfortable arms, then reaches out to touch her abdomen, her expression filled with a bit of confusion and bewilderment. After all, a wizard’s physical quality cannot compare to that of a melee professionist. Seeing Gloria rise from the heavy stack of books, Alice also stands up and stretches a little. On top of the towering pile of books, the divine doll Chris is lazily sleeping, while a busy doll maid brigade meticulously organizes stacks of sheets filled with dense text.
“Sister Gloria.”
“Have you completed your research on the magical power device?”
Alice stretches beautifully, her youthful curves immediately evident. She also looks a bit tired and says slowly, “I’ve completed about one-third of the tower spirit’s structural analysis; I estimate that I’ll need another week to finish it.”
Coming to Modo City was truly a wise choice.
Alice thinks to herself that both Soren and Gloria are not difficult to get along with. Although the Fallen Witch seems a bit dangerous, she doesn’t particularly feel repelled by her. Most importantly, Modo City has many things that are very attractive to her, and as a legendary puppeteer, all her energy is currently devoted to the research of magical energy devices and tower spirit constructs. They shared part of their knowledge, and in just a few days of interaction, both felt that they had gained something.
Alice believes that once she completes her research on tower spirits, she can consider personally creating a tower spirit construct.
Gloria has also gained a lot.
Alice mainly provides technology for miniaturization of constructs and how puppet lives can master specialty abilities. This knowledge comes from what Alice found in the ruins of the Arcane Empire, but unfortunately, the library she discovered was severely damaged and some knowledge has been lost. Currently, the research work on the Elemental Furnace is mainly assigned to the Fallen Witch, and they are responsible for tackling the high-level construct life aspect. Soren hopes to establish a powerful Golem Legion, and both legendary witches have devoted much effort to it.
“Mm.”
“Almost done.”
Gloria withdraws her hand from her abdomen and slowly says, “This afternoon, I’ll pass some of the spell models’ structures to you.”
After saying that, she walks toward the door.
Outside the laboratory, Gloria again places her pale hand on her abdomen, her brow slightly furrowed as she murmurs, “Why can I feel a new life energy, yet my belly hasn’t shown any signs?”
“Could it be that it’s not gestating according to a mortal’s lifecycle?”
Species differences.
The reproductive cycles naturally vary.
Humans carry for ten months, elves for a year and three months, dwarves for about twelve months, while orcs only need eight months. As for the other humanoid species, the reproduction speed is even faster. Werewolves need between six to seven months, goblins about three months, and sometimes they can bear three litters in a year. The differences are even greater for oviparous creatures, with lizardmen and goblins having rapid reproduction rates, although hatching also takes time.
Generally speaking, among intelligent species, goblins and dog-headed people are the easiest to reproduce. They can have at least two litters in a year.
The gestation period for half-elves is eleven months.
Under normal circumstances, Gloria’s belly should have already started to bulge.
Yet right now, there’s no change in her abdomen; her figure remains graceful. The only explanation is that this child does not follow a mortal’s lifecycle.
If it’s not according to a mortal’s lifecycle, then the required time is difficult to estimate.
The Agricultural Goddess.
The goddess who made an alliance agreement with Soren. She is a true divine and the offspring of true gods, with the Mother Earth as her mother and the Lord of Radiance as her father; she stayed in the Mother Earth’s womb for over a hundred years before being born.
A true god with Weak Divine Power right from birth!
Gloria is currently feeling a bit troubled. Yet there’s also a sense of relief, because the current situation is really not favorable for the child’s birth. The Saint’s Cataclysm is escalating, and they themselves are not in an absolutely safe environment.
With a bit of time left.
Gloria rises to check on Vivian, the little princess of Modo City, who has her own courtyard, watched over by a giant bipedal wyvern.
Lulu is currently learning combat skills from a drow warrior.
So the courtyard is usually quiet. Gloria has also arranged a magic circle to prevent others from interfering with Vivian’s integration of divinity. She steps into the large courtyard, and the guard bipedal wyvern glances at Gloria before obediently lowering its head. After observing for a moment, Gloria leaves, as the integration of divinity is not a simple matter. Inside the room, there are also divine power protections arranged by Soren.
Compared to the focused research of the Fallen Witch, Gloria still needs to deal with the affairs of Modo City regularly.
She is the mistress of Modo City.
In Soren’s absence, Gloria needs to approve legislative documents every week and regularly convey Soren’s plans to the officials of Modo City.
Although rumors say that Soren has a close relationship with Princess Anna, the established mistress of Modo City remains only Gloria.
She is highly regarded in Modo City!
At this point, the sky is gradually brightening, with the sounds of patrolling guards changing shifts coming from outside.
Just then.
In the northwest sky, a brilliant light suddenly manifests, resembling a meteor streaking across the sky. During its descent, there is a violent collision, and an overwhelming force is affecting the elements of the material plane, even distorting the distant sky.
“What is that thing?!”
Gloria’s figure instantly vanishes, the next moment appearing on the astrological platform, gazing into the distant sky, murmuring, “Not a meteor! This absolutely cannot be a meteor from the astral plane falling to the mortal realm!…”
“There’s a hint of divine presence.”
“Could it be?!”
Gloria seems to have thought of something, her expression slightly changing in an instant.
At the same time.
Many beings in the material plane sensed this scene, and they looked up in unison towards the northwest sky, their expressions serious as they began to ponder.
The Northwest Wilderness.
This land is very close to the orc tribes. Ever since the outbreak of battles during the Ilmas Empire, the influence of the orc gods in the material plane has weakened increasingly. The number of orcs in the material plane is not large. They don’t even match the scale of dwarves; they occupy a relatively barren land to multiply. For the orcs in the material plane, they are a group of outcasts, as the energies of the orc gods are focused elsewhere, without paying much attention to this plane.
In the boundless astral sea, there is not just one main material plane.
The gods in the Pantheon distribute their faith across many places in the multiverse; other material planes certainly exist. However, reaching those places is not easy.
Especially after the City of Imprints was sealed.
To maintain control over faith in a specific plane, some pantheons even seal the space to prevent others from finding it.
The Dragon Kingdom is a good example.
There are many small planes controlled by dragonkind within the multiverse. The Dragon God designated these areas as breeding grounds for great dragons. The brass dragon princess who initially contracted with Soren came from these planes. [Note: “The Legendary Dragon Kingdom,” Volume One, Dragon Island.]
Rumbling.
The light in the sky finally falls, directly smashing a crater over several dozen miles in diameter into the northwest wilderness.
The surrounding space twists.
Enormous bursts of energy seep out, instantly attracting many beasts.
The terrifying energy shock caused spatial rifts.
Within those ominous spatial rifts, one can occasionally glimpse another world, a vast primordial forest, or an endless expanse of grassland.
Awoo!
The silhouettes of wolves emerge.
As the terrifying light descends into the mortal realm, the explosive shock instantly devastates everything there. A pack of wolves, active near the northwest wilderness, comes here.
The leading wolf has glowing green eyes, guiding the pack closer to the depths where the light fell.
An invisible energy seeps out.
These powers continuously flow into the bodies of those beasts, and soon incredible changes begin to occur in their bodies. Their expressions become increasingly humanlike, and their gazes more spirited. Even while advancing, they engage in constant communication.
Yes.
They are communicating, frequently interacting like intelligent creatures.
………………
A shard of holy silver light appears.
On the outskirts of the northwest wilderness, the ethereal avatar of Lady Silver Moon appears here, behind her is the slowly closing Moon Gate.
“The God of the Hunt – Mara!…”
Lady Silver Moon’s expression is very solemn as she gazes at the distant falling light, murmuring, “Has His kingdom fallen? But why would it fall to the mortal realm?”
“His kingdom did not perish in the astral realm. Instead, it fell to the material plane.”
“Is all of this just coincidence?”
Lady Silver Moon falls into deep thought, and during this time of contemplation, a powerful attraction emanates from the depths of the northwest wilderness, continuously pulling nearby beasts closer. The closer those beasts get to the wilderness’s depths, the more their intelligence becomes evident, until even the figures of winter wolves appear.
——Intelligent beasts.
This is the power belonging to the God of the Hunt – Mara, and the divine power He accumulated over long ages.
When Soren killed the Vampire Son, the kingdom of the God of Half-Elves and Wanderers had already begun its descent. This weaker deity’s death created significant instability in the divine kingdom, which was rapidly nearing a state of collapse. It was at that time that Soren took over the divine office and soon formally ascended to divinity, which prevented the original half-elven divine kingdom from collapsing.
[Note: During the formal investiture, Soren connected with the original half-elven divine kingdom and received divine power feedback.]
The God of the Hunt – Mara is dead!
He died at Soren’s hands, and Soren did not inherit His core divine office.
Mara’s essence is that of an intelligent beast, and His divine kingdom is also centered around personal understanding; unlike Lady Silver Moon’s kingdom which is balanced, it only accepts one form of being: the Beast Form!
The God of the Hunt – Mara is himself in Beast Form, so his kingdom’s believers, if reincarnated, become Intelligent Beasts. Almost all of the prayer weavers reincarnate as beast kinds.
His kingdom is very close to the Gray Wilderness plane.
If a deity falls, their kingdom will gradually collapse, and this speed varies, primarily depending on the kingdom’s structure and size. The plane also awaits the moment of termination; if no one takes over the God of the Hunt – Mara’s kingdom, it will gradually detach and fall. It could possibly collide with certain planes in the astral realm or collapse and be destroyed while drifting in the astral.
What is happening now is very rare.
The God of the Hunt – Mara’s kingdom has fallen to the mortal realm, and it has not completely perished; the residual power of the divine kingdom has transformed the northwest wilderness into a semi-plane structure.
The divine kingdom has become a temporary semi-plane, attached to the northwest wilderness of the main material plane.
This process.
Will continue until the power within the divine kingdom is exhausted, after which the semi-plane phenomenon created here will gradually disappear.
Such things have happened before.
The dimensional fortress of the City of Wizards suddenly descended; a great mage who had roamed the astral for hundreds of years returned, and the semi-plane space collided with the walls of the City of Wizards, even forming an independent planar passage.
This news once shocked Soren.
………………
A broken space.
Accompanied by a silver-white radiance, Lady Silver Moon’s figure appears on a vast grassland.
The ground has cracked.
Ahead, the land has split to reveal a crack over a hundred kilometers long, and deep within the crack, flowing magma can be seen. Everything around looks somewhat twisted, with bizarre ruptures in space.
To use a metaphor, it’s like a mirror that has shattered and been reassembled.
The sights before her look like reflections in a broken mirror; there are cracks at the edges of space, and these cracks are causing the entire world to gradually collapse.
On the grassland, many beast corpses can be seen.
Wolves, tigers, and leopards.
Along with some other beasts, they are not just ordinary beasts, but residents of the divine kingdom, the prayer weavers of the God of the Hunt – Mara.
These are soul-reincarnated intelligent beasts.
Some are even quite powerful, but in the disaster of the divine kingdom’s plane collapse, even prayer weavers at the level of Holy Spirits may not survive.
The entire divine kingdom is perishing.
The boundaries of the plane are gradually shrinking. Lady Silver Moon glances at the corpses of beasts strewn about and then proceeds deeper into the grassland.
She is uncertain how long this divine kingdom can sustain itself.
However, before the divine kingdom is completely destroyed, she has some things to do, as the vast majority of the wealth accumulated over the lengthy life of a deity is stored within the divine kingdom.
The divine kingdom is an independent world.
The plane’s laws here are not advantageous for her, and there may still be surviving divine messengers and servants of the God of the Hunt; she must hurry. Exploring the realms of other gods, even if that deity has fallen, poses a danger comparable to facing an ancient red dragon. Who knows what strange things have been hidden away in the divine kingdom that the God of the Hunt managed for thousands of years!
………………(To be continued ~^~)
