Path to Godhood!

Silver-white flames blazed across the canopy of the sky, wrenching another heart-wrenching shriek from the elder evil that warped space through mere sound. In an instant, the sky-blotting elder evil vanished, reverting to its original form of a half-eyeball hovering high in the air, exuding a dense, suffocating black mist of sin. From within the eyeball came unwilling snarls and curses: "Damned reptile! How dare you desecrate a god like this! Do you think the great Orc God will let you off? "Red dragon, perhaps you think yourself invincible, but that is only because you dwell in the Material Plane! Soon you will realize that throughout the vast multiverse, Gruumsh's exalted name is enough to make all living beings tremble!" "Iwenis, the Chaotic Evil Eye, wasn't it? A boastful name. But you seem to have misunderstood one thing..." Cassius beat his broad dragon wings, unhurriedly ascending high into the sky. He snapped his dragon claws, a ferocious grin spreading across his reptilian visage. "This is my home turf. What right do you have to threaten me?" In an instant, silver-white flames engulfed the half evil eye, blazing furiously as if determined to purify it completely. "Red dragon, you think you can burn me to death? Ridiculous! I am an immortal entity birthed from a god's flesh! Even if ten thousand years pass, you cannot kill me!" Coiled in flames, the Chaotic Evil Eye laughed maniacally, but it soon realized something was wrong, and its laughter abruptly froze. —To its utter terror, Iwenis discovered that this fire was no ordinary dragon flame. It was a flame of order akin to holy fire, and it was burning and stripping away its immortal traits! An elder evil's immortal traits were born from twisted divinity! "Th-this is that old fellow Zaphkiel's flame?!" Gods only knew how a chaotic evil red dragon possessed such power! In Iwenis's memory, this form of power belonged solely to the Lord of Heaven! "H-how is this possible?!" "No! No—I was wrong! You are a mighty red dragon! Stop, Your Majesty Cassius, Your Majesty Cassius!" Amidst the flames, the Chaotic Evil Eye trembled violently, wailing in agony. The black tentacles deep within flailed and writhed in the air, devoid of all its previous arrogance. Yet the silver-white fire continued to burn. The red dragon gave a slight shake of his head and said, "No, not enough. You just tried to kill me. I need a reason—a reason not to kill you." "Red dragon—no, Your Majesty Cassius! Even if you extinguish my will, you cannot endure Gruumsh's divinity right now! Killing me is utterly meaningless to you!" the Chaotic Evil Eye screamed shrilly, pleading frantically. Cassius shook his head again. "Snuffing out a potential threat—how is that not meaningful?" Under his control, the flames did not diminish; rather, they blazed higher, seemingly intent on consuming the will inside the half-eye entirely. The Chaotic Evil Eye could feel its immortal traits draining away bit by bit. Though the process was not fast, it was enough to severely weaken it or even make it perish completely. At this moment, the elder evil finally felt the terror mortals experience in the face of death. Its voice trembling, the Chaotic Evil Eye cried out amidst the fire, "No—Your Majesty Cassius! I know the secrets of godhood! Do... do you wish to become a true deity?" Cassius watched the Chaotic Evil Eye with keen interest, a faint glint appearing in his pale gold pupils, his breathing quickening slightly. "Iwenis, you're saying... you know the secrets of ascending to godhood?" The secret of apotheosis had eluded even the Cassius of his past life. After all, in the eyes of players, gods were secretive beings "without health bars"—powerhouses standing at the peak of the multiverse, separated from mortals by an impassable chasm. Even top players who broke past the level-twenty threshold could not find a path to divinity. To become a god, "Sun Emperor" Aragorn I sacrificed his empire, causing the once-flourishing Holy Fadlan Empire to disintegrate. To become a god, the ambitious arcanist Karsus invented history's only 12th-level spell, causing the floating city of Ilena to plummet to the ground and bringing about the ruin of once-glorious Netheril. These events that shook the world and altered history were proof enough of mortals' yearning for godhood. And as an ambitious emperor, just like his predecessors, Cassius was very interested in becoming a god. In Cassius's eyes, although this Chaotic Evil Eye was extremely dangerous, its value far exceeded that of ordinary mythic artifacts; it could truly be called a "living encyclopedia." Hearing the red dragon's inquiry, Iwenis hurriedly lowered its half-iris, enduring the searing flame as it spoke with a touch of fawning servility: "Of course, Your Majesty Cassius. I am the eye of the Orc God. "The Orc God has ruled the vast hordes of orcs since prehistoric times, fighting for dominion over the mountains, and I possess all of His knowledge and wisdom, privy to the countless secrets of the gods..." "Very good." Cassius slowly flapped his wings, drawing near to the Chaotic Evil Eye. He stared intently at the eyeball engulfed in silver-white flames, his pupils flickering. "Tell me everything you know, the truth, or else..." He held out his massive claw, where Chaos Fire, flames of order, and even solar radiance intertwined across his palm. "I will let you taste annihilation." "Yes, yes, Your Majesty Cassius." Under the Chaotic Evil Eye's fearful gaze, Cassius grinned, his draconic visage bearing what he considered a gentle smile. "Look at me... Do I look like a god, or do I look like a dragon?" "..." The Chaotic Evil Eye widened its great eye, looking at the red dragon with an innocent gaze. After a long silence, trying to guess what he wanted to hear, it cautiously replied, "Your Majesty Cassius, you... are the most extraordinary entity I have ever seen. "Though you have not obtained a divine spark, the divinity and divine power within you far exceed those of ordinary demigods. You also wield powers of multiple statuses and supreme essence—things I have only seen in those ancient old-timers. "Combined with the natural traits of a true dragon... your might already surpasses many divine avatars and demigods." Cassius nodded slightly, his expression giving nothing away as he continued, "Then how do I achieve godhood?" The Chaotic Evil Eye extended a tentacle covered in eye sockets, offering an enigmatic smile and speaking in a raspy, jarring voice: "Your Majesty Cassius, so far as I know, there are three primary paths for a mortal creature to attain godhood. "The first is to obtain primordial divinity. Such primordial divinities are born of the world's laws, aligning with divine domains that arise from cosmic changes. However... through endless ages, these primordial divinities have long since been plundered bare by the ancient gods." This primordial divinity seemed exceedingly ethereal and practically unobtainable. Yet Cassius stroked his chin in thought. Since the players brought change to this world, could they affect the laws of the world and generate corresponding divine domains? For example, a God of the Starfallen, a God of Biology, or even a God of Steam and Machinery, a God of Gunpowder and Firearms... If the players exerted a great enough influence on the world—then as the ruler of most players, master of the Cinder Empire, and creator of the Fiansu Continent's industrial system, Cassius would be the prime contender for such divine seats. The Chaotic Evil Eye extended a second tentacle and continued, "The second method is to receive the boon of a powerful deity and become their subordinate god, just like the Dead Three—they were once such lucky ones..." Here, the Chaotic Evil Eye abruptly shifted its tone, sounding somewhat excited: "Your Majesty Cassius, if you could take me to find the Orc God, with His generosity, He would surely bestow a divine seat upon you. "When that time comes, you could become the God of Dragon-Orcs, enjoying supreme honor and status within the orc pantheon, sharing immortality with us! Just imagine, it would be..." At this point, the impassioned Chaotic Evil Eye suddenly choked on its words and instinctively recoiled its tentacle. "Iwenis, do you take me for a fool?" Cassius was staring coldly down at it, streams of silver-white fire spilling through the seams of his jaws as if ready to unleash flames capable of purging all chaos. "O-of course not! You are the shrewdest red dragon I have ever met." Trembling, the Chaotic Evil Eye extended a third tentacle. The eye sockets along the tentacle were lined with sharp teeth that snapped open and shut, weeping viscous black fluid. "Right, Your Majesty Cassius, I sense a substantial amount of divine power accumulated within your body, and even remnants of a certain deity's divinity. Perhaps you could use this divinity to ignite your divine spark and become a true..." Cassius chuckled out of pure fury, his gaze turning frigid, a palpable killing intent radiating from his pale gold eyes. "Iwenis, this is your last chance..." A torrential wave of flame cascaded outward, swallowing the Chaotic Evil Eye. The red dragon's voice rose into a furious roar: "Dare to deceive me once more, and I will utterly obliterate your consciousness, reducing you to mindless immortal essence!" The Chaotic Evil Eye thrashed within the fire, begging frantically for mercy with shrill cries: "No! Your Majesty Cassius, I was wrong! I dare not trick you again!" Cassius looked down coldly at the Chaotic Evil Eye writhing in the fire, not immediately withdrawing the Flame of Order. When dealing with an ancient relic like this, one could never afford to drop their guard. A momentary lapse could lead to falling into its schemes; everything it displayed could be an act. After enduring the schemes of the Demon of Vengeance, the red dragon might still hunger for power, but he would no longer act recklessly out of greed; he had become far more cautious. Why was Cassius so certain the Chaotic Evil Eye was lying to him? The reason was simple: he knew all too well where his divinity came from—it was the Heart of Garyx, the very thing that had brought him endless trouble and driven him to madness multiple times. That power was so mad and chaotic that even someone as formidable as Cassius had been tainted by it, briefly losing his sanity. Only after slaying Jerlazax and obtaining the origin of the Flame of Order had Cassius felt secure enough to wield Chaos Fire at will. Merely channeling that power had inflicted such severe backlash; what if he used Garyx's remnant divinity to ignite a divine spark and ascend to immortality? He could well imagine the consequences. Cassius gave a cold smirk and asked, "Iwenis, if I actually did what you suggested, what would happen?" "Your Majesty Cassius, I was wrong! I truly dare not!" The Chaotic Evil Eye did not answer directly, only wailing in misery. Seeing its reaction, the red dragon intensified the heat. Silver-white tongues of fire burrowed into the Chaotic Evil Eye's true body, corroding its immortal essence. "No, no! Your Majesty Cassius, please stop! I'll speak, I'll speak!" As the flames invaded its core, a human-like sob crept into the Chaotic Evil Eye's wails. "Wh-when igniting a divine spark using another deity's divinity, the one holding greater divinity can influence the lesser one's will, gradually transforming them into that deity..." the Chaotic Evil Eye weakly confessed in the flames. "Heh, just as I thought. One really cannot trust these ancient abominations. Their words are half-truths at best." Cassius thought to himself. He let the Chaotic Evil Eye burn for a good while longer, until it could barely extend a single tentacle, before reluctantly pulling back the flames. He ordered, "Keep talking, or I won't spare you." Weakly raising a charred tentacle, the Chaotic Evil Eye rasped, "Yet the third path to godhood is also born of this very principle. Divinity can possess a physical form, whether in the Material Plane or the Outer Planes—such as the Goddess of Magic's divine Weave mantle. Naturally, the gods guard their 'Divine Symbols' with extreme vigilance, using terrible traps and mighty entities—most often their true bodies within their divine realms—to protect them with all their might." Cassius mused for a moment and asked, "You mean... I can seize their divinity, using it to ascend to a divine seat and devour them?" The Chaotic Evil Eye's form shuddered. It could not help but marvel in secret at this dragon's greed and sheer audacity—he actually wanted to plunder a deity in their own divine realm! Even its progenitor or father, the mighty Orc God Gruumsh, had never committed such an outrageous act. Yet on second thought, if this red dragon was arrogant enough to invade a deity's divine realm and loot it, wouldn't it soon regain its own freedom? The Chaotic Evil Eye secretly rejoiced. With that in mind, under the glaring threat of the Flame of Order, the Chaotic Evil Eye trembled as it replied, "Of course, Your Majesty Cassius. That is precisely the third path I speak of. An audacious mortal can steal the majority of a deity's Divine Symbols and use them to ignite a divine spark, becoming a new god and deposing the original." The Chaotic Evil Eye did not mention the most well-known method of ascending through faith, because in the era when it was sealed, faith had not yet become the fuel of divine power. "Very good. That will be all for our questioning today. Remember: do not try to deceive me again." Cassius nodded slightly. Then, extending his claws and spreading his wings, he unleashed his Imperial Domain with full force under the terrified gaze of the Chaotic Evil Eye. Caught in a violent gale, the Chaotic Evil Eye was driven deep into the ground. It struggled desperately: "Your Majesty Cassius, this is unfair! I spoke the absolute truth! What are you doing? You must keep your promise..." "Iwenis, you pose too great a threat. You make me feel very insecure," Cassius said calmly, and then suddenly clenched his claw. Imperial Domain: Severance. In an instant, boundless power of law cascaded forth. The elements, space, and even time around the Chaotic Evil Eye abruptly froze solid. Immediately after, Cassius chanted an ancient Draconic incantation under his breath. Shimmering chains forged from countless runes manifested on the ground, intertwining and binding the area holding the Chaotic Evil Eye in layer upon layer. Still feeling it wasn't safe enough, Cassius curled his talons. The surrounding rock surged inward as the ground shook violently, thrusting upward into a towering hill that came down over the seal of the Chaotic Evil Eye. Once the dust settled, Cassius dusted off his claws and nodded in deep satisfaction. "From now on, this place is also an imperial forbidden zone. Its secrecy classification is raised to the absolute highest. Any trespassers will die." After sealing the Chaotic Evil Eye beneath the earth, Cassius continued to ponder the paths to godhood he had pried from its maw. Though the words of this elder evil could by no means be taken entirely at face value, Cassius could separate truth from falsehood through his own practice to verify them. Obtaining primordial divinity, becoming a subordinate god, usurping divinity, apotheosis through faith... "Looking at it this way... I have quite a few paths to godhood available to me." A gleam flickered in Cassius's pale gold pupils, and a ferocious grin spread across his face.