Truth Remains Unchanged

The white mass of flesh ceased its writhing; the legendary mage's physical body had finished reshaping. The form was pale white from head to toe, devoid of bones or internal organs, stuffed entirely with minced white flesh. On the right side hung three deformed arms of varying thickness and two legs; on the left were three chaotically writhing tentacles and a leg whose limb split into a webbed flipper. The head consisted of a thick, long tentacle hanging from where the back of the skull should have been, winding down around the chest and torso, its tip wrapping around the private parts between the legs. Facial features were scattered haphazardly across a smooth face—chaotic, asymmetrical, and mismatched in size. An organ resembling a mouth nearly cleaved his head in two, exposing two dense rows of gums lined with crowded teeth that easily ran into the triple digits. No lips enclosed the teeth, and inside the oral cavity there was no tongue, nor any sign of vocal cords, a trachea, or an esophagus. Standing two meters tall, it had achieved a certain degree of anthropomorphic form. Isabella's expression turned frigid. With just a single look, a feeling of acute nausea washed through her mind. Having wandered through the cosmos of the Astral Realm, this mad legendary mage had long since become a walking source of corruption. "The stench of the God-favored Continent is as filthy as ever..." The legendary mage parted his mouth and fixed his gaze upon Isabella. "You're a follower of the Church of Nature, aren't you? How wonderful. Looking at you is like looking at my former self. Back then, I too was utterly captivated by life magic." Isabella narrowed her eyes. "Marshall Josh Sommerfield. You were once a disciple of the Goddess, a noble knight enfeoffed by the Windsor royal family, renowned and revered within the Church. Yet you fell into madness chasing life magic, and in the end, you marched straight into ruin." "Marshall... Josh... What a familiar name..." The legendary mage murmured the words, then burst into uproarious laughter. "Names are shackles that imprison our minds! A curse placed upon us mages by the gods! "Hahaha! You think I went mad? Is that the frightful tale the Church feeds you? "How laughable! They understand nothing at all! I discarded my name and broke free from the curse! Now I am the Lord of the Void! My mind has achieved liberation, unconstrained by any boundary! I..." "...already know everything!" As his speech reached its climax, Marshall—the former legendary mage and now the Lord of the Void—thrust up his arms and tentacles. His laughter was shrill and grating, carrying an infectious magical power that penetrated everywhere and hung in every corner of the air. It drained the color from Isabella's face, making the flesh across her body tremble uncontrollably. "So what if you know everything? You're completely out of your mind," Isabella said through gritted teeth, holding her ground. She wasn't wrong. The Lord of the Void was indeed mad, and severely so. Once his brief pang of nostalgia passed, he ignored Isabella completely, turned around, and began walking away. A wind blade sliced through the air, followed instantly by a burst of fire. It carved across the Lord of the Void's back, severing tentacles and leaving scorched black burn marks in its wake. At the open wounds, white froth squirmed, repairing the damage to pristine condition in the blink of an eye. The Lord of the Void turned around, his grotesque eyes locked onto Isabella. "You have great potential and impressive talent. In time, you will awaken to your true self just as I did. I have no desire to kill you, but if you insist, I would be delighted to oblige." Cold sweat dripped from Isabella's forehead. With every exchange between them, her thoughts slipped into greater chaos. She flared her magic power to forcefully suppress the nausea, keeping her voice chilly. "If you were still the legendary mage Marshall of old, I wouldn't dare stand in your way. But your mind is rotten. You are no longer the powerhouse draped in glory." "Quite confident, aren't you? Then let's play a little." The Lord of the Void grinned broadly. "Let me see what Silver mages are capable of these days, and whether the Church of Nature has advanced or deteriorated." Without waiting for Isabella to reply, he answered his own question. "Deteriorated, surely. Truth remains unchanged—awakened ones like me will only continue to multiply." The Lord of the Void raised all three arms, whipping up a violent hurricane that swept across the entire cavernous hall. Mingled within the gale were flying blades and slender needles. Not only were they countless in number, but each one packed enough force to pierce metal and shatter stone. Isabella unleashed all the magic power she had spent so long storing up, summoning the Nature Guardian Barrier to erect an impenetrable green shield. With a thunderous crash, the barrier shattered, and the storm dispersed. Isabella was hurled into the air by the raging shockwave, slamming heavily into the wall behind her. When she hit the ground, true to her physique, she bounced twice. The legendary mage was undeniably insane; his scrambled mind had made him forget the spells he once took pride in, and he hadn't even descended with his full will, sending only a fragment to the God-favored Continent. Even so, before him, Isabella was still as fragile as a newborn child. Straining with all her might had only allowed her to block a casual strike. "I know you've mastered life magic. Go on, cast it. That momentary burst can grant you the vast magic power of a Golden mage. Perhaps then you might drive me back into the Void," the Lord of the Void said with a chuckle. Disciples of the Goddess of Nature hungered for knowledge yet feared madness, standing merely a single step away from liberating their desires—the spitting image of who he used to be. He didn't mind lending a hand and pushing Isabella across that threshold. That spectacle would surely be entertaining! Isabella stood up with a frozen expression. The Lord of the Void was a walking font of corruption. With her mind disrupted by his presence, she couldn't display the full extent of her training. Worse, having once been an eminent mage of the Church of Nature, he knew her hidden trump cards inside out... Could she win? Taking a deep breath, Isabella let the fat across her body tremble violently. As if undergoing an intense surgical procedure, she slimmed down at a visible pace. The moment her figure shed every trace of bloated weight to become lithe and slender, the magic power within her surged to its absolute peak, shattering her limits to leap from a Silver Cross straight into a golden triangle. A hexagram was exceptionally stable, and a cross star was no different; the higher one climbed, the firmer the internal balance of a mage became. Isabella's magic power had only temporarily reached the level of a golden triangle; such a brief burst could never last. Knowing this all too well, she faced the former legend and poured out every drop of her magic power in a single breath, tracing a magnificent golden triangle magic circle across the underground plaza. A magnificent torrent of magic power surged forth, ushering in the descent of an overwhelmingly supreme aura. When the tempest cleared, Isabella stood in place, panting heavily. Under the influence of the divine art, a lock of hair over her forehead had turned deep green, and several faint marks had appeared across her face. The most striking change was her ears, which had grown long and pointed like an elf's. Behind Isabella, light coalesced into a silhouette. A sacred will projected downward, outlining an understated yet impossible-to-ignore figure. The Goddess of Nature! *Clap, clap, clap—* The Lord of the Void clapped his hands and tentacles together in praise. "To summon the noble Goddess proves your faith is extraordinarily devout. And the more devout one is, the deeper the betrayal cuts. I truly look forward to what you do next. As for this empty shell..." He chuckled softly. "It is nothing at all. You are not a God-favored, nor do you possess a Holy Spirit physique. The Goddess will not grant you much of a response." The Lord of the Void shook his head in disappointment. "Frankly speaking, I'm quite let down. I thought your desperate gamble would place more trust in yourself. Yet in the end, you still chose faith." *Relying on myself alone would never be enough!* Isabella's eyes flashed with resolve. Reaching inside her collar, she yanked out a pendant. The hexagram flared with brilliant radiance, establishing a connection with the five mages at the Church of the Earth's Core headquarters. In an instant, she drew upon all their magic power, funneling every bit of it into the Goddess's phantom silhouette until the outline turned distinct, vivid, and lifelike. Upon the Goddess's holy face, both eyes slowly parted. A terrifying shockwave of energy swept the hall. A supreme, peerless will descended to banish the chaotic corruption, forcing the Lord of the Void backward step after step. The tentacles across his body began to melt, and his entire frame went slack like rotting sludge, as though scorched by blazing heat. He could no longer maintain even a semblance of shape. Not that it had been normal to begin with. With a wretched scream, the Lord of the Void sent his festering tentacles shooting forward, their tips hardening into razor-sharp spikes aimed straight at Isabella's heart. A shimmer of light rose to shield Isabella. The two wills ground against one another, producing an ear-splitting screech like cracking glass. Clutching the hexagram pendant at her chest, Isabella closed her eyes and murmured her prayer, using the most devout devotion to earn the lowered gaze of her faith. The tentacles melted away, while the light shone undiminished. Roaring curses at the Goddess, the Lord of the Void let out a furious cry, spun around, and broke into a desperate sprint to flee. Beneath the protective radiance, the entire underground plaza was enveloped in divine power. An invisible barrier blocked every escape route, and no matter how wildly the Lord of the Void slammed against it, he couldn't crack open a single breach. With no way out and no chance of killing Isabella, the Lord of the Void dissolved completely amidst his ceaseless cursing. With the source of corruption eradicated, the underground plaza regained its calm. Isabella didn't dismiss the divine art right away. She waited quietly for a moment, and feeling her mind on the brink of total exhaustion, she slumped against the wall and slowly let her eyes close. She was utterly drained. And so very hungry! Goddess above, would someone please bring her something to eat! Up on the surface, the five mages who had selflessly offered up all their magic power collapsed as well. First the magic circle, then the auxiliary divine art—drained to their limits, they barely managed to put up a protective barrier before passing out into a deep sleep. By now, everyone across Enrold Town was enjoying the high-quality sleep typically reserved for the father of a newborn baby. The kind where the baby screams beside him and his wife kicks him, yet he still won't wake up. One person, however, was clearly an exception. Opening pale white eyes, he staggered to his feet. The Mayor! He pulled an idol pendant from inside his coat and silently chanted an incantation, summoning a thicket of tentacles that merged into his form. The pale, tentacled creature set off in the direction of the villa mansion. With every stride, his flesh shifted. Squirming white froth devoured muscle, bone, and organs, completing the grotesque transformation. The hexagram represented Earth, Fire, Water, Wind, Void, and Self, and any corresponding magic circle had to be arrayed accordingly. The four buildings of the Church of the Earth's Core headquarters represented the four elements, the idol beneath the chicken farm signified the Void, and the civic administration hall could only be the Self. As the top official of the civic administration hall, the Mayor was the "Self" of the hexagram—and a hidden pawn left behind by the Lord of the Void. Unfortunate Archbishop Yvon went to his grave never knowing that the Mayor, a believer he thought he had personally converted, had long since thrown himself into the embrace of the Lord of the Void. Yvon had been the one played all along. *Swish!* The pale humanoid monster lifted both arms, transforming them into boneless wings. With a heavy flap, he lifted off the ground and rocketed toward the villa mansion. "A bunch of useless trash. In the end, I still have to do it myself!"