"At a time like this, we cannot afford to hold back. Everyone, do not be stingy with the consumption of divine power. After all... the Prime Material World is our foundation..."
Oghma's voice carried a heavy weight.
"In the end... if things truly become untenable, we may have no choice but to activate the 'Resettlement Plan' and relocate most of our followers into our divine realms..."
Although divine realms were only suitable for petitioners and other spiritual beings—with living people undergoing irreversible transformations and various other drawbacks—it could not be denied that doing so carried its benefits. At the very least, for several decades, the gods would not need to worry about the collapse of their faith.
And once they had crushed the wizards' assault, they could simply resettle these followers back into the outside world in an orderly fashion.
"Agreed!" "Agreed!"
Soon, the gods agreed with Oghma's proposal and even began dividing up their respective territories and domains, determining the timing for opening the divine realms and guiding their followers in.
"Everyone..."
Seeing the gods eagerly discussing how to flee, dark clouds of horror surfaced on the faces of
Finally, Tyr stood up.
"What we should be discussing is how to defeat the wizards and wash away the disgrace of Ragnarok—not cowering like cowards and scrambling for ways to escape..."
"If that is all any of you wish to do, then forgive me for not keeping you company..."
BOOM!
The god's avatar slowly dissipated. The assembled deities could feel that Tyr's will had already departed the Pantheon.
"I feel the same way. However... gathering followers and retreating into the divine realm is indeed a way to protect them to some degree, so I also agree with Lord Oghma's proposal..."
From the seat of the God of Morning Light, Lathander also expressed his opinion.
Then, this Master of the Dawn departed the Pantheon as well.
Even with two Greater Powers absent, the various resolutions were still passed quickly under the gods' deliberations.
Moreover, countless priests, acting on their respective gods' instructions, had already begun systematically preaching doomsday doctrine, drawing large numbers of followers into their gods' divine realms to obtain 'eternal life'...
...
The gods' actions in the Prime Material World naturally could not escape Leilin's notice, but his true body was still campaigning in Marborgi, leaving him no time to attend to these matters.
Within the divine realm, however, Leilin's Chip clone walked out from the towering temple and arrived at the location where the Mother of the Earth's Core resided.
The area where she now stood had already taken the shape of a towering range of mountainous hills. At its center, lava blossoms radiated endless patterns that connected deep into the earth, as though monitoring everything in the vicinity.
After Leilin's Chip clone arrived, a single eye surfaced from the lava.
"Great Mother of the Earth's Core, I trust you already know the purpose of my visit..."
Leilin's Chip clone's eyes held wisdom and detachment, like a puppet that knew only how to follow orders—but the radiance of Intermediate Divinity upon its form made even the Mother of the Earth's Core treat it with no less than full attention.
An eighth-level
What's more, this eighth-level puppet was merely a clone of Leilin's true body.
"Of course... the plague and disease spreading through the Prime Material World have already caused at minimum ten million deaths... some have even begun calling you the new 'Lord of Plague'... though we all know this is not your doing..."
The Mother of the Earth's Core projected her vast will. Several plant roots spread outward, composing images of the Prime Material World.
"Indeed... the faith born of fear that has recently arrived from there—I have felt it as well..."
Leilin's expression was somewhat grim. This was obviously someone framing him, and there was only one person who could be so familiar with his methods while also circumventing the
"The Twisted Shadow, is it? Truly a specter that refuses to stay buried..."
"It may be trying to frame you and draw the gods' combined assault upon you, but it is not the only one working in the shadows..."
The Mother of the Earth's Core's clone clearly had access to more intelligence.
Her path was 'Earth.' Everything that occurred upon the earth could not escape her gaze.
"Not just the Twisted Shadow—there are also more infiltrating wizards, as well as ancient wills that have escaped confinement, all doing the same thing. Their goals may be to strike at the gods' faith, or to collect enough souls to facilitate their own restoration..."
The Mother of the Earth's Core's intelligence plunged Leilin into deep contemplation.
"How are the wizards' preparations progressing?"
He had naturally been monitoring intelligence on this front as well. After all, the war between the World of Gods and the Wizard World directly concerned the ownership of the Eternal Path in the future—it was not something that could be ignored.
"We have learned from the lessons of the last Battle of Ending and have not rashly ignited full-scale war. Currently, aside from a few madmen operating openly to draw attention, all other wizards are well-concealed... We have also established contact with the wills of the ancient wizards, and they have promised to coordinate with our plans as much as possible..."
"As for supplies, nine Hives of the Mother Worm have been constructed. The passages connected by Mander's Disc are very stable as well, and have currently been relocated to the Sea of Void..."
The Mother of the Earth's Core delivered several pieces of good news in succession.
"What about the suppression from the World of Gods?"
Leilin asked about the most critical question. As a super-large world on par with the Wizard World, the World of Gods' suppression of foreign existences like wizards was terrifyingly severe.
"We have naturally accounted for that as well, and our luck has been quite favorable..."
The Mother of the Earth's Core's voice carried a note of encouragement: "The World
"Even without being forcibly downgraded, it would still be an enormous hassle..."
Leilin furrowed his brow—though this was only feigned, because a truly extraordinary phenomenon had occurred within his true body.
After fusing with his True God Avatar, advancing to Eighth-level Warlock, forming the Path of Original Sin, and upgrading his Bloodline Origin to the Nightmare Hydra, he had been astonished to discover that his Wizard main body experienced absolutely no suppression within the World of Gods, as though he had been a native of that world all along!
The fusion of two worlds' rules had never occurred in the history of the Astral Plane—it was precisely because of this that such a miracle had come to pass!
The current Leilin moved freely through both great worlds without the slightest suppression.
Of course, he had kept this secret hidden. As his ultimate trump card, it would surely leave his unknowing enemies with a devastating surprise.
Regarding Leilin's concerns, the Mother of the Earth's Core was forthcoming: "Of course... how to contend with world-level suppression has always been one of the key subjects of our research, and we have already achieved partial results..."
BOOM!
The earth split open. Numerous plant roots wove together into the shape of a hand, placing a silvery-white metal sphere into Leilin's grasp.
"This is..."
A Chip's fluorescent glow flickered through Leilin's eyes, but the numerous scans returned nothing but question marks across the entire display, accompanied by the label [Unknown].
The silvery-white metal sphere's surface was perfectly smooth, yet it did not reflect any of its surroundings. Instead, it seemed to faintly devour all the light around it.
"The surrounding World Primal Force has been shielded!"
Leilin was silent for a long while before finally uttering those words.
"Precisely... We have named this technology 'World Armor.' It is crafted from the latest discovered alloy capable of shielding World Primal Force, fashioned into armor to protect our true bodies... thereby circumventing the world's suppression and allowing us to unleash our full power!"
"A remarkable piece of work, though it seems rather fragile—unable to sustain beings of our caliber in prolonged combat..."
After a brief trial, Leilin immediately understood the World Armor's limitation.
It was merely an insulating barrier, separating the wizard from the World of Gods. Like any piece of armor, once it was breached, it became utterly useless.
What's more, in Leilin's perception, the material's hardness was frankly nothing impressive.
"We are continuing to refine the related processes, but for now this World Armor is sufficient for us to launch one low-intensity operation. Consider the sample in your hand a gift..."
The Mother of the Earth's Core was quite generous. After all, Leilin was one of their own, and he had previously yielded considerable benefits—she naturally wished to demonstrate her goodwill.
"Mm, I won't waste words on thanks—I am genuinely very interested in this!"
Leilin pressed the silvery-white metal sphere against his chest, and it immediately sank into his skin. Strange silvery-white patterns spread outward, covering his entire body like a suit of armor.
"The connection to World Primal Force has been severed. What a remarkable wizard alloy—there even seems to be room for improvement..."
The light in the Chip clone's eyes flickered continuously.
[Using the current sample as a reference, begin reverse-engineering the raw materials and manufacturing process. Calculate optimization possibilities!]
Soon, a task was generated within the Chip.
After fusing with Leilin's divine portfolio, the subordinate Chip's functions had grown even more powerful, gaining two additional divine abilities: [Transcendent Calculation] and [Reality Simulation]. Its capacity for projection and computation far surpassed that of any eighth-level peak wizard.
"This approach and craftsmanship—it seems applicable not only to the World of Gods... the Wizard World, and even the Dream World could all benefit. It would just require targeted adjustments..."
The Chip's function was limited to projection, but as its user, Leilin could achieve things that the Chip alone could not. This kind of pioneering thinking was an advantage that a mere tool like the Chip could never possess—only a being with a true soul could accomplish it!
The discovery of this formidable weapon immediately planted a vague but grand plan in Leilin's mind.
If the plan succeeded, it would clear the path to the eighth-level peak—and even lay a solid foundation for drawing upon the power of space-time in the future!