From dusk until midnight, Silver Coin Island remained quiet.
Ryan had expected the orcs to come looking for trouble, but even after waiting half the night, nothing stirred. Just as they thought the night would pass peacefully, a series of thunderous booms suddenly rang out, startling the Ryanians into drawing their blades and stacking divine spell after divine spell, ready for battle at a moment's notice.
But soon, they realized it was a false alarm.
Those rumbling booms were merely fireworks.
Countless brilliant fireworks tore across the night sky, bursting into dazzling light that illuminated the entire island. Multicolored blossoms bloomed overhead, dreamlike in their beauty. The surface of the sea sparkled, reflecting the radiant glow of the fireworks until it seemed the entire ocean had been set alight.
No one in the world had ever witnessed such a breathtaking spectacle.
They had seen fireworks before, but usually the kind that shot up with a bang, popped into a tiny burst of sparks, and served solely for long-distance signaling. Such items were far from cheap, so no one had ever beheld a display of millions of fireworks blooming simultaneously.
Who knew fireworks could come in so many colors, or take on so many shapes?
What was more, once the fireworks display began, hymns dedicated to Talos echoed across Silver Coin Island.
Storms, thunder, destruction... These impassioned movements blended seamlessly with the fireworks to stage a magnificent show unlike anything seen before.
Everyone stood awestruck before the scene.
Was this a wedding of deities? Who knew a wedding could be so soul-stirring?
Captivated by the dual assault on eye and ear, everyone's attention was wholly drawn to the ceremony.
At that very moment, however, Anbaixiu ascended beyond the highest reaches of the fireworks, plunging deep into the cloud cover.
Cocooned within storm clouds, Anbaixiu arrived before a colossal palace.
It was a grand hall built entirely of colossal megaliths, desolate and archaic. Innumerable giants knelt outside the palace, prostrating toward the core where thunder converged and loudly singing praises to the name of Talos.
This was the Towers of Ruin, a projection of Talos's divine realm.
Mortals could not enter a divine realm directly without a deity's permission. Anbaixiu was hardly a devout follower of Talos, and Talos would never permit a lich who offered only lip service into his divine realm.
This time, however, the god had made an exception, casting a projection of part of his divine realm into the mortal world and granting Anbaixiu leave to tread upon it.
The moment he entered the divine realm, Anbaixiu felt his body enveloped by countless unseen bolts of thunder and howling gales. They were not physical phenomena, but an overwhelmingly vivid, hyper-real sensation.
Small wonder Talos dared to open his divine realm and allow any deity to step inside.
He was powerful enough. Within the Towers of Ruin, Talos feared no one. Even should the Lord of the Dawn enter, he would be torn to shreds by those violent tempests and lightning strikes.
Anbaixiu walked past the giants. Even with them prostrate on the ground, Anbaixiu would have had to leap just to touch their knees, a testament to their immense size.
Like a tiny ant crawling through a crowd, Anbaixiu slipped through the gaps and stepped into the temple of thunder.
Fortunately, Talos had no fondness for elaborate decorations, so upon entering the temple, one could immediately see the mighty deity seated upon the divine throne at the center. Three bolts of lightning of differing colors crackled forth from the throne, stretching into the unseen distance.
Lowering his head according to the customs of the Talos faith, Anbaixiu bowed respectfully, raising three fingers to signify piety. Only after completing the full sequence of rites did Anbaixiu straighten up and look toward the Lord of Storms.
Talos remained as majestic as ever, looking down at Anbaixiu as though regarding an ant.
"You mimic the gestures well enough."
Talos's voice, mingled with thunder, shook Anbaixiu so violently his soul nearly dispersed. Facing the majesty of a deity directly was truly terrifying; even devoid of malice, it was enough to kill a mortal.
Anbaixiu steadied himself before speaking: "Honored Lord of Storms, your wedding is fully prepared."
Talos, however, seemed largely indifferent to the wedding itself, asking Anbaixiu with curiosity instead, "Lich, you are to die today, yet you appear remarkably calm. Have you devised some means of evading your fate?"
Anbaixiu shook his head and replied honestly, "Fate's gifts have always carried a price tag from the very beginning. Now the time has come to pay, and I harbor no thoughts of fleeing."
"Heh-heh. A mortal indeed cannot, but for a god, it may not be impossible..." Talos's gaze pierced the temple walls, taking in the grand fireworks display. The dazzling lights and silhouettes were enacting his glorious deeds, displaying them before every kingdom in the most awe-inspiring manner.
"For the sake of this fireworks display, I could help you. I can elevate you to my subordinate deity right now." Talos's words would drive any mortal mad with desire—the chance to ascend to divinity in a single leap was right before him. Yet Anbaixiu calmly shook his head. "Impossible. Even one as mighty as yourself cannot defy established fate. Even if I consented, you could not make me your subordinate deity."
"Hahaha! A mere mortal, yet your audacity is remarkable. Do you know what you are saying?"
A violent power bore down upon Anbaixiu in an instant, causing every inch of his bones to creak and groan. With a mere thought from Talos, Anbaixiu would be reduced to ash, beyond the salvation of any phylactery.
"Naturally I know what I am saying, mighty Lord of Storms. Your grand power can indeed shatter heaven and earth, but my fate does not end here. You will not elevate me to godhood, nor will you kill me—regardless of whether Ao placed restrictions, you cannot do it. I came here solely to fulfill my promise, not out of fear of your majesty."
Anbaixiu held his head high, calmly gazing at the exalted deity as though truly bereft of fear.
Talos was on the verge of declaring, "Let us put that to the test," but before the words could leave his lips, he burst into boisterous laughter. "Crafty lich, I nearly fell for your trick. I would never make you my subordinate deity so cheaply! I hadn't even named my conditions yet, and you nearly spun me around with your words. Put away your petty cleverness—I will never create another treacherous Velsharoon.
"Nor will I be like those two fools Shar and Lolth, tricked by you into violating Ao's rules. You still have one resurrection effect remaining on you, a gift from that primeval shade, isn't that so? I foresaw everything long ago. You could never deceive me."
Anbaixiu: ...
Though he knew no amount of effort from Talos could alter his fate, watching the god play the smart aleck was truly cringeworthy. You are a deity of slaughter and ruin, not one renowned for intellect... As expected, people always flaunt what they lack most.
Anbaixiu really had no desire to spend this final stretch of his life bickering with a deity who acted like some impetuous punk, so he urged Talos once again to commence the wedding.
The primary reason for holding the wedding deep in the night was that Talos's majesty was best showcased in the dark.
Daytime lightning was never quite as dazzling as it appeared at night.
Failing to read Anbaixiu's thoughts, Talos merely gave a cold snort and reached out to pluck a flash of lightning from the air.
It was a cage woven from countless lightning bolts, inside of which lay the goddess Blibdoolpoolp, weak and bearing a gigantic lobster head. Her frame was vastly smaller than Talos's, small enough to be clutched in the Lord of Storms' hand like a plaything. Her madness seemed to have vanished as well, leaving behind only listlessness.
Anbaixiu felt no pity. This lunatic goddess had brought it upon herself by driving more than half of her followers to revere Aige instead, likely tumbling from an intermediate deity to a lesser deity. Naturally, she lacked the strength to offer even token resistance before Talos.
Talos extended a finger, thrusting it into Blibdoolpoolp's chest. Vast torrents of lightning poured into her body, swelling Blibdoolpoolp up like an inflating balloon.
The grotesque lobster head began to morph, gradually taking on humanoid features.
Talos was sharing his divine power with Blibdoolpoolp, using it to remodel her appearance just as he had once done to Velsharoon.
Once branded by Talos's divine power, Blibdoolpoolp would become his slave entirely, unable to flee as Velsharoon once had; Talos was not about to make the same mistake twice.
Anbaixiu watched as the lobster-headed goddess was reshaped into an alluring, shapely giantess, her body marked with numerous tattoos of lightning and tempests—the shackles Talos had bound upon her.
When the transformation finished, the Kuo-toa Goddess was completely transformed, unrecognizable to anyone.
Blibdoolpoolp knelt beside Talos, glaring at Anbaixiu with venomous eyes.
It was this mortal before her who had brought her so low. Blibdoolpoolp wished nothing more than to swat this lich to death with a single strike.
Yet Talos's power held her fast, leaving her manipulated like a marionette.
With the wedding's two main actors prepared, searing lightning flashed across the skies above Silver Coin Island, seamlessly taking over just as the fireworks faded away.
The sky lit up once more, but this time, the lightning wove into the likenesses of Talos and Blibdoolpoolp, presenting the newlyweds before every guest.
Talos waved his massive hand and said to Anbaixiu, "Go, mortal. Today you are the second lead, and I look forward to your performance."
Anbaixiu bowed and stepped back, and in the next instant was cast out of the divine realm, plummeting from the high heavens toward the ground.
Watching the island rapidly enlarge below, Anbaixiu swept both hands outward. The magic circles across the island ignited, transforming it into a colossal arena.
The wedding's second ceremony—the Duel Before the Gods—began.
Whether you agree or not, the enemy's blade will force you to rise and fight back.
A roar erupted from the direction of the orc territory as endless crimson light blasted toward where the Ryanians stood!
Chapter 508