Rupture

Having completed the Six-Winged Trial, Sonia and the others needed only a single thought to raise their Kingdoms of Heaven and ascend to God-Leaders. There were no flamboyant requirements or convoluted thresholds; as long as one possessed a world secret realm and completed the Six-Winged Trial, one could step into the supreme sanctuary of sorcerers—or at least what had been the supreme sanctuary for countless ages past. Six-Winged God-Leaders! To claim they were not tempted would be a flat-out lie. What sorcerer had never looked up at the unreachable Heaven, fantasizing that they might one day claim dominion over Heaven and become one of the most brilliant stars through all of history? What sorcerer did not yearn to stand upon the highest peak and look down over the world's most breathtaking sights? Lord of gods, reigning over the Void Realm! Power alone was utterly inadequate to capture the might a Six-Winged God-Leader wielded. If one had to describe it, it would be: "If a God-Leader dreamed a dream yesterday, they could make it a reality the next day." Whether resurrecting the dead or overhauling an entire society, any wish a mortal could imagine was within a God-Leader's power to grant for a certain price. At most, there were wishes a God-Leader might temporarily be unable to afford, but there was absolutely nothing a God-Leader could not do. For instance, returning to the past: although the Second Cycle god had become a thing of legend after the fall of the Glazed Time Lord, if the God-Leaders were willing to exhaust all the resources of Heaven, they could forcefully refine a new Second Cycle god. It was simply that such a thing would never happen, not that a God-Leader lacked the power. Ordinary wishes, however, were entirely within their grasp. Immortality—not merely for oneself, but for friends, family, and anyone one favored, allowing everyone to live carefree lives forever within the Kingdom of Heaven; Ambition—not only managing a Kingdom of Heaven, but even carving out territories in reality, casually rewriting a nation's destiny to suit one's whim. If Yaxiu ever got to rule the world, he would certainly implement a miracle system like Red Hot Chili Pepper, allowing opposing parties in internet arguments to attack each other directly through the cable—a lingering grudge born from nights spent tossing and turning in fury at online contrarians. As for sheer enjoyment, that went without saying. Yaxiu and the others had once seriously discussed whether becoming God-Leaders would cause them to quickly grow bored and tired of life, and the answer was impossible. Even if they somehow did tire of it, the Sword Princess and the others had plenty of things they wanted to do. Sonia still wanted to study sound sorcery and become a songstress; Diya wanted to be a fairy tale author; Weise wanted to master every sorcery in existence; Vichy felt uncomfortable if she spent a single day without becoming the strongest. The conclusion was that Yaxiu would be the only one slacking off until he degenerated into a Lalafell. Even though the recent appearance of the new Sorcery Supreme tier had nerfed the power of God-Leaders considerably, the benefits of ascending remained countless. Thus, Sonia and the others had only one reason for not raising their Kingdoms of Heaven: the environment forbade it. Heaven held the four God-Leaders and the Divine Lord of Stars. If they dared raise their Kingdoms of Heaven, that mob of "native hooligans" who had entrenched themselves in Heaven for thousands of years would come rushing over at once to give them a warm welcome. Heaven was their home turf, whereas Sonia and the others were, at the end of the day, fledgling demigods who had stepped into the divine domain less than a year ago. The gap between them was like striking a stone with an egg. Yaxiu felt that even if he sold his soul again, his odds of winning would still be slim. Endure! Keep amassing strength, and slaughter their way through Heaven later! Beyond that, there was another crucial reason. The instant Vichy completed her trial, the Dramatic Poet had abruptly appeared before Yaxiu and Felix to congratulate them on their success. If Felix hadn't been scrubbing Yaxiu's back in the bath at the time, the Dramatic Poet's timing wouldn't have been half bad. In any event, along with delivering the good news, the Dramatic Poet had passed along a secret poison message from the Void Realm: "At the peak of Hell, step onto the floor of Heaven." This was not a shortcut to becoming a God-Leader; after all, Yaxiu and the others were already capable of raising their Kingdoms of Heaven at any time. The Dramatic Poet had laid it bare without beating around the bush: "A God-Leader is a God-Leader, but ruling Heaven is ruling Heaven. Only a sorcerer who ascends to God-Leader via the Path of Origin has the right to rule Heaven." Put simply, ascending to God-Leader was split into Ordinary Ascension and Origin Ascension depending on the method. The former meant raising a Kingdom of Heaven anywhere to achieve ascension, whereas the latter required comprehending the hint provided by the Void Realm and ascending along the Path of Origin. Only a God-Leader who achieved Origin Ascension had the right to rule Heaven. The Dramatic Poet had not elaborated on what ruling Heaven actually entailed, offering only a small example: before the Divine Lord of Stars ascended, there were actually thirteen God-Leaders in Heaven, but none had achieved Origin Ascension, and therefore not a single one was able to rule Heaven. Those thirteen God-Leaders included someone Yaxiu and the others knew—the Illusion Lord of Thousand Wishes. Not all of those God-Leaders had died, but the ones lucky enough to escape went into hiding, never daring to show their faces in Heaven again until their demise. "God-Leaders who do not rule Heaven are actually not much stronger than you," the Dramatic Poet had described it. "They just have an extra country, that's all." Once the Divine Lord of Stars took dominion over Heaven, she slaughtered every God-Leader who could not rule Heaven. Yet while no one had achieved Origin Ascension for tens of thousands of years in the past, five Origin God-Leaders had appeared in succession over the several thousand years following her rise, giving the distinct impression that the Divine Lord of Stars had single-handedly forced a version update. If one could not rule Heaven, one would remain at the very bottom even after ascending to God-Leader. Before deciphering the secret poison message, Yaxiu and the others naturally would not raise their Kingdoms of Heaven and cut off their own future. Only then did Yaxiu realize why the Void Realm had revealed the proper method of ascension to them: it could no longer stop them, but it could stall them. For every day Yaxiu and the others delayed their ascension, all manner of unforeseen complications could arise. Such an overt scheme was hard to imagine coming from the Void Realm itself; in all likelihood, it was the result of the Dramatic Poet's steering. Thus, in Yaxiu's imagination, raising a Kingdom of Heaven should have been a solemn, cautious, and imposing ceremony, like fully armored knights launching a resolute charge toward Heaven. Yet what was he witnessing now? It looked practically like a down-and-out knight blindly charging headlong into a windmill. Such a magnificent moment had somehow been turned into a farce. "Who is that?" Yaxiu lifted the collapsed Yenifa by the back of her neck and flew into the air to ask. Yenifa felt humiliated being picked up like a cat, but dared not resist Yaxiu, who possessed seven void wings. She replied cautiously, "King Tianzhu." "The name rings a bell," Dead Frenzy said from the side. "Though not much of one." "He is one of the Eight Ancient Kings from the Fifth Hell, possessing six tiers of hell wings. We call him 'Lord Tianzhu' or 'Ancient Tianzhu,'" Yenifa said. "Supposedly an ancient demigod from thousands of years ago, regarded as the fortress's ultimate combat force..." "An old relic who's lived thousands of years," Yaxiu and Dead Frenzy sneered in unison. Meanwhile, the Kingdom of Heaven King Tianzhu was raising grew increasingly complete. The Forgotten Ones and the eight-winged creatures strangely halted their attacks, allowing him to ascend to God-Leader and flee toward Heaven. Rather than say they were waiting, it was more accurate to say they were watching with eager anticipation. Anticipating that King Tianzhu would bring them even greater spoils. "Tianzhu!" A roar resounded across the battlefield as a blazing flame demigod charged toward King Tianzhu like a boiling meteor crashing into the earth, on the verge of crushing the nascent Kingdom of Heaven. But another demigod intercepted the flame demigod, standing guard before the Kingdom of Heaven! Both of them spread their void wings. Six overlapping layers of hell wings radiated an ancient, grim chill. Even without Dead Frenzy pointing it out, Yaxiu could tell they were Ancient King demigods of Hell—only the oldest demigods could possibly accumulate six tiers of hell wings! "Xinyi!" the flame demigod roared. "Do you have any idea what Tianzhu is doing, or what you are doing? You are dragging the entire world into Hell!" "If we are capable of dragging the world into Hell, it only proves this world is due for destruction anyway," Ancient King Xinyi replied calmly. "We have no obligation to protect this world; it doesn't belong to us." "Those high-and-mighty God-Leaders had us exhaust thousands, tens of thousands of years' worth of resources to construct the ultimate fortress, and we obeyed. They demanded we hold out to the bitter end, and we held on until now. Now that the secret realm defensive line has completely collapsed, everything is over! Are we supposed to be buried alongside Hell?" "Come with us, Yantie. We have done everything humanly possible for Hell and for the world. Even if the world is destroyed, it won't be our fault. Let those bastards in Heaven protect it!" "Spare me your high-sounding garbage!" Ancient King Yantie roared. "Omniscient made it crystal clear—they are outside holding off the World-Swallowing Serpent for the Void Realm, while we are inside stopping it from digesting the Six Hells! The only reason it hasn't invaded reality yet is because the Void Realm is resisting it, Omniscient and that bunch of bastards are resisting it, and the Divine Lord of Stars Supreme is resisting it!" "Tianzhu raising his Kingdom of Heaven right now is the same as opening the doorway to reality for it... Not just the Six Hells, the entire world will be swallowed into its gut! Don't you understand that?" "Should we just die here, then?!" Ancient King Tianzhu retorted shrilly. "Why should we protect their world for the God-Leaders and the Supremes?!" "Bastard!" Ancient King Yantie threw a punch, detonating a hundred-meter space-cleaving flame blast out of thin air, but it was still blocked by Ancient King Xinyi. "Do you think you won't die once you escape?! Even if Stars doesn't purge you, how long can this world resist the World-Swallowing Serpent?!" "You've lived for thousands of years and you're still this terrified of death?! Just to drag out a wretched existence for a few more years or even months, you cast aside all the honor of a sorcerer?! If I could survive, I'd run too. But since we're all going to die, then straighten your clothes and draw the most glorious final period in your own sorcerer's handbook with your own hands! Those demigods who were willing to go out and activate the Golden River nodes didn't do it so you old relics could run away!" "I, Yantie, am ashamed to share a title with you!" Ancient King Yantie's voice echoed across the battlefield. "All demigods, hear my command! Stop Tianzhu!" Tianzhu shouted loudly as well, "Everyone who wants to live, follow me! I will lead you out of Hell!" The surviving demigods instantly split into two factions and attacked one another. Companions a second ago had turned into mortal enemies sworn to fight to the death the next, while the eight-winged creatures and the Forgotten Ones quietly looked on from outside. The scene was both farcical and tinged with sorrow... When confronted by an insurmountable foe, the weak turning on one another in slaughter was far more likely to occur than standing united as one. Only this time, even the demigods of Hell had become the weak.