Countdown

*Gurgle... gurgle... gurgle...* Colossal black bubbles churned ceaselessly within the Black Sea. Every bursting bubble blasted up a spray of foul, fishy rain. "Ugh... it stinks so bad." The closer they got to the Black Sea, the more Little Kanna resisted. Under Purr's tutelage, she insisted on bathing every day, and such good hygiene habits had left her somewhat of a clean freak. Standing on Kanna's back, Karen said, "Be good. Fly in." Left with no choice, the little bone dragon pressed forward. Arriving at the outer edge and seeing that Karen still had not ordered her to stop, Little Kanna could only fly out over the Black Sea. The Black Sea's surface area had already expanded threefold. It was like an enormous cauldron brought to a boil, its foul fumes roasting everything above it with supreme intensity. Little Kanna was enveloped in a layer of magical defense, but it could not hold up for long. She had to constantly reform it, locked in a completely asymmetric battle of attrition. After flying further inward, the shadows of the three islands finally came into view. Yet the metaphor used at the very beginning was no longer fitting. What Karen saw were three mountain peaks standing tall above a sea of black clouds. The rising black vapors unexpectedly created the artistic effect of a traditional ink-wash landscape painting. When the anomaly had first begun, waves had surged violently across the water and three islands had appeared in the central area—those had merely been the crowns of their heads... Now, their heads were fully exposed, and their necks were even craning upward. This meant that those three chief-god-level entities were returning at a pace literally visible to the naked eye. And only half a month had passed; half of the estimated one month had already elapsed. "Kanna, a little closer." Little Kanna continued forward. The rate at which the outer black mist corroded her protective barrier had already outpaced her ability to regenerate it. Multiple scorched, blackened patches were already appearing on her once-pristine white bones. These were marks of pollution. This Black Sea had possessed polluting properties from the start, though initially the pollution had not been particularly intense. As long as one refrained from deep-sea diving or swimming and wore standard protective gear, nothing bad would happen. Yet with this latest eruption, its polluting nature had escalated drastically. The concentration of pollution at the periphery had already surpassed the contaminated sinkhole back in Wien. As for the interior, it was far more terrifying; even divine artifact reconnaissance was disrupted by it, spiraling out of control. The knights had originally intended to use offensive measures like magic crystal cannons to weaken the pollution, or employ more powerful combined purification spells to force a path through. With the great battle imminent, the commanders were desperate to learn what was happening inside. However, these proposals were rejected by both the Formation Department and the command headquarters. According to observations, while this Black Sea was the birthplace of "sin," it was also the primary source of restraint. Weakening or destroying the outer pollution would very likely hasten the dissolution of those fetters, allowing the deities—who should still have taken some time to emerge—to return even earlier. Under these circumstances, the only option was to send suicide scout squads inside to investigate. Yet several teams had been dispatched in succession, and regardless of what protections they prepared, none had returned alive. The furthest response had come near the core area. The transmission they had sent back was... they had been attacked. After returning to the Garden of Life in his capacity as the High Priest's secretary, Karen had taken the initiative to shoulder the responsibility for the next reconnaissance mission. The commanders had initially disagreed, but given Karen's special status, they lacked the authority to overrule him. By now, Karen had arrived at the edge of the core area. A visible membrane seemed to have formed ahead, sealing off the region where the three heads were located. This was also the highest water level of the Black Sea, showing a distinct tendency to spill outward. It was very much like the ripples created when a person stood up in a bathtub—except this bathtub was unimaginably massive, and the bodies of the rising gods were vaster still, so everything appeared stretched out in slow motion. Below, Karen spotted a vessel. It was the craft used by the previous reconnaissance team. "Take us down, Kanna." The little bone dragon dove downward. Only after drawing closer did they see that the ship had been snapped cleanly in two. "Aaaah!" "Aaaagh!" Howls suddenly erupted from beneath the sea. Immediately after, wraith-like entities flew forth, still clad in the clerical robes of Order—undoubtedly the fallen members of the previous scout team. "Kanna, give them release." With a whip of the bone dragon's tail, the tremendous force instantly shattered the polluted wraiths to pieces. Taking advantage of the moment, Karen dropped from the bone dragon's back onto the shattered vessel. This was the bow, still floating upon the water, its internal formation arrays entirely corroded and defunct. Reaching this far was proof enough of the scout squad's excellence. They truly had harbored no illusions of surviving; they had wagered their lives solely to gather more intelligence for the legions behind them. A similar situation had unfolded during the initial massive eruption of the Black Sea, when numerous priests at monitoring outposts had disregarded their own safety, steadfastly transmitting the latest observational data so the rear would possess sufficient information rather than remain completely blind. Every priest knew one could not gaze directly upon a god; yet to wage war against a god, one had to see them clearly. This was no paradox; it was a price that had to be paid. In the ship's forward command cabin, Karen found a wooden box. At the final moment, the squad commander must have placed the intelligence they had lacked time to transmit inside. However, the sturdy box's internal formation inscriptions had also been corroded. When Karen touched it, foul, putrid pus oozed from within. Karen poured out the pus and picked up the wooden box. At the same time, an enraged roar echoed from outside. "Roaaar!" Stepping out, Karen saw an enormous centipede burst from beneath the sea. Its entire body was ulcerated and rotting, yet it remained terrifyingly ferocious. "Rapas." On the murals of the Church of Life, Rapas was depicted among the tattoos on the right arm of the Second God of Life. Legend had it that it was a corrupter of the Tree of Life, seeking to gnaw away at the Tree until it was suppressed by the God of Life and integrated into the god's own body. From then on, the Church of Life gained a new sequence, and the cruel human centipede experiments conducted in the mini-world were merely attempts to breed Rapas's secondary offspring. Yet the creature before him, though not the true body, was certainly no defective byproduct bred in later generations. Rapas was an entity of supreme evil, feeding on filth and born of grime. The environment here must have allowed its projection to manifest, completing its return a step ahead of the chief gods. Facing this formidable monster beast from the previous era, Little Kanna showed not the slightest trace of fear. She layered three successive defensive spells onto herself, added a defensive formation array on top, and charged straight down to engage Rapas in close-quarters combat. The two colossal beings churned up terrifying winds and waves across the sea. Seeing that Little Kanna was not at a disadvantage, Karen turned around to face the interior. Even through the barrier, he could still sense the dreadful aura seeping forth. He raised a hand, intending to test breaking through the barrier. But the moment his power made contact with it, Karen's eyes turned crimson, and negative emotions flooded his consciousness. Within his soul, the hunger addiction began to roar, forcibly pulling Karen back from the verge of frenzy. Karen withdrew his hand. For the first time, when confronted with a soul-level threat, he chose to retreat. The interior was permeated with an intensely venomous malice—not only from these three chief gods, but from the many deities who had perished along the way. This was the towering resentment of a pantheon of gods, something even the hunger addiction could not forcefully breach. *I'll have to get Luoya to help share the burden.* Giving up his plan to probe deeper, Karen took to the air. Seeing Karen looking as though he might step in to help, Little Kanna barked anxiously in quick succession: "Woof, woof, woof!" Immediately after, her dragon claws repeatedly plunged into the centipede's body, and her tail whipped it brutally over and over. It was hardly an elegant brawl; it simply came down to who had thicker hide and meatier flesh. Clearly, Little Kanna—endowed with racial gifts and trained in numerous skill courses—held every advantage in this clash. The bone dragon's body coiled around the centipede, and after a succession of terrifying detonations, the centipede shattered completely. Just then, a summoning call seemed to echo from within the membrane, drawing Rapas's spiritual imprint back inside. Karen could have intercepted it, or at least used the hunger addiction to swallow it whole. However, to avoid prematurely alerting the deities within, he did nothing, letting the imprint streak past overhead. The centipede had acted very much like a hound sent to scout the way. Unfortunately, the Garden of Life had already been plowed through by the Church of Order, leaving virtually no bountiful food for it to feed upon. Moreover, this vast Black Sea had originally appeared at the roots of the Tree of Life. In other words, even if the Church of Order had never invaded, this place had been destined to serve as a paradise of sacrificial offering. This was a cruel truth: in their original designs, the two chief gods of Life had likely earmarked their own believers as the very first meal for their return. Indeed, no food was more delectable or suitable than priests of one's own system. "Kanna, let's head back." "Alright!" Little Kanna hovered in the air. When Karen landed on her back, he found that the once-white bone dragon had turned pitch-black, as though dyed in ink. Yet having just fought a battle, the violent impulses in her bones had been roused, leaving her thoroughly excited and indifferent to how dirty she currently was. When they flew near the outer edge, Karen told Kanna to halt. "Order—Purification." Chains of Order extended from beneath Karen's feet, wrapping Little Kanna completely. The pollution clinging to the bone dragon was thoroughly absorbed and purified by the chains, and the little bone dragon instantly regained her pristine whiteness. It was only because Karen was the inheritor of the God of Order that he remained unbothered by such contamination; otherwise, cleansing her would have been no simple task. Seeing the bone dragon fly out, Daan and the other senior knight commanders breathed a collective sigh of relief. Karen landed. Little Kanna shifted into human form, pulled a pill from her pocket, and was about to gnaw on it when Karen reached out and smacked it to the ground. "It's dirty. I'll get you another portion from logistics in a bit." "Those don't taste good." Little Kanna looked down at the pill on the ground with some grievance. The logistics division had plenty of rations prepared for powerful monster beasts, but none could match the taste of her customized treats. "These are exceptional times. Just make do for now." Karen patted Little Kanna's head, then walked straight toward Daan. "Gentlemen, let's head into the command tent to talk." As the group walked toward the command tent, Karen deliberately looked to both sides. On one side stood densely packed magic crystal cannon emplacements, every cannon primed and ready to fire; on the other lay beast enclosures, where various formidable monster beasts slept. These were merely what could be seen in this immediate sector. In truth, every defensive position had long since been meticulously prepared. Three Order knight corps stood ready here, having brought out their entire foundation. In addition, multiple massive teleportation arrays had been established in the rear, with three more knight corps prepared to reinforce at a moment's notice—not counting the numerous regular auxiliary legions. Seeing them lent Karen a considerable surge of confidence. Entering the command tent, everyone took their seats around a round table, with Daan at the head. He was currently the highest-ranking commander in the Garden of Life. Karen sat beside Daan. His status could be viewed as modest or exalted: low enough that he could hole up in the communications camp merely to relay frontline reports to the High Priest as secondary verification, or high enough that, as right now, he participated in the supreme military council here. Naturally, Karen had no interest in hiding his capabilities at this moment. Venturing deep to scout in person had also been meant to give his voice more legitimate authority. Karen first took out the wooden box and set it on the conference table, demonstrating that he had truly penetrated into the depths. Next, Karen recounted everything he had seen and heard along the way, including his dragon's clash with Rapas. Daan quickly caught the crucial detail and spoke up: "From the look of it, invading the Garden of Life in advance was a fortunate stroke of foresight. It leaves the returning gods without their initial meal to replenish themselves." The others nodded in agreement. Another corps commander, Rockwinner, remarked, "This is the guidance of our Lord." Because the Church of Life had been selected during that bookmark-drawing ceremony, even if there had been behind-the-scenes manipulation involved, in the eyes of most people, the outcome remained sacred. The commanders within the tent immediately crossed their arms and prayed in unison: "Praise be to the great God of Order." Even Karen had no choice but to follow along, offering a word of praise to himself. Daan said, "Thus, the other similar regions must also be cleared in advance. Fortunately, the vast majority of hazardous zones fall within our Church's jurisdiction." Rockwinner reminded him, "Two are not: one lies in Samsara Valley, and the other in the Moon God Church's territory." The first major wave of returning deities primarily consisted of rebelling subordinate gods of the Church of Order. Thus, most of the observed omens were situated in the Church of Order's traditional spheres of control, and traces of their own subordinate gods had been detected in each. The other two locations were the Gate of Samsara and the Moon Sacred Ground, core territories of two orthodox churches that the Church of Order could not smoothly observe. Yet in all likelihood, those were still connected to two subordinate gods of their own Church. Just like the region before them, where the descent was to occur first: Augurev returning alongside two chief gods of Life. The third corps commander present, Silma, asked, "Why not wipe out Samsara and the Moon God Church as well? Both churches have already been severely weakened by the previous war anyway." Daan shook his head. "Unrealistic. Right here alone, our Church has deployed six knight corps both openly and in secret. Our remaining forces could hardly guarantee a swift and decisive campaign." The initial day's strike against Samsara and the campaign against the Church of Life had both been executed swiftly and ruthlessly by the Church of Order, but those had rested upon matching superior military power with optimal operational plans. Neither could be lacking. If either fell short, the conflict could devolve into a protracted war of attrition, where having an advantage would cease to matter at this juncture. "This still requires a political solution. Relevant intelligence can be shared with those two churches, and we can invite their senior leadership here to observe our upcoming god-slaying war." Silma sighed. "Asking them to raise their hands against their own chief gods? I don't think that's realistic." Karen said, "It only needs to be realistic to a portion of them. The return of the gods is, in itself, a new reckoning. Many will find a sharp rift between the beauty of their faith and the cruelty of reality. "Besides, aren't we about to take action against one of our own 'Exalted Ones'? "By the way, how is the soldiers' morale-soothing effort progressing?" Rockwinner answered, "Resistance from the ranks isn't too fierce. After all, propaganda has already branded Lady Augurev an apostate—she betrayed the God of Order." Silma patted his chest. "The knight corps are the most devout defenders of our Lord. So long as it isn't against our Lord... any other Exalted One is fair game." Daan looked at the matter from a broader and deeper perspective. He asked Karen, "I worry that once the situation is disclosed to the soldiers here, word will inevitably spread back to the Church in the rear..." The soldiers of the knight corps were accustomed to strict obedience, but if the faithful in the rear learned that action was being taken against a subordinate god of their own Church, it would likely cause considerable unrest. Karen waved his hand and said, "That isn't our concern. The High Priest will handle everything." Had the string of political struggles and purges not been carried out specifically for this day? Now that even the Temple had been brought to heel, any lingering discord within the Church would not derail the overarching strategy. "Understood." Daan nodded. Karen stood up and said, "If anyone has difficulties or requirements, speak now. Tomorrow morning, I will return to the Holy See to report on the situation here to the High Priest in person." Seeing that no one spoke, Karen nodded. "Then the meeting is adjourned." Leaving the command tent, Karen did not rush back to his own quarters. Instead, he walked up to a piece of high ground and sat down, where he had a clear view of the distant Black Sea. In half a month, a divine war would erupt here. It was arriving abruptly, yet with a relatively precise timeframe, leaving the remaining days feeling restless and tormenting. Little Kanna walked over, clutching a purple mushroom in her hands and nibbling on it. It was precious feed meant for the Black Phoenix mounts. "Are we going back to fetch Great-Grandfather and that old book guy?" "Don't be impolite." "*Sigh.*" Little Kanna let out a breath. "We're about to fight gods, and he's still assigning me new homework." "There's no rush; we still have time. We'll head back to settle a few matters first, and then focus on preparing for the situation here." "Karen, are you nervous?" Karen shook his head. "Really?" "There's nothing to be nervous about." Karen pointed in the direction of the Black Sea and continued: "The ones who should be nervous are them."