The first three layers of the Barthur Hells, within Leilin Farell's divine plane.
A terrifying temporal storm manifested above the White Jade Holy Mountain, sending out violent spatial ripples.
Amid such colossal commotion, the outline of a floating city slowly emerged into view.
From the temple at the very summit of the Holy Mountain, golden light radiated outward, shielding everything in its vicinity from the floating city's turbulence.
"Our Lord
The petitioners on the ground were already accustomed to this. They knew the floating city was the Holy Serpent faith's sacred artifact, and also Leilin's personal conveyance. None found it strange in the slightest—some even knelt and prayed toward it.
"Chip… begin inspecting the main body of Soul City. Report the extent of the damage!"
From the throne in the main control chamber, Leilin sat draped in golden holy robes, his gaze calm as he issued the command.
《Ding! Soul City main body sustained 36.77% damage! Energy reserves depleted! Shadow
"It's already reached this level?"
Leilin fell silent for a long while before finally letting out a deep sigh.
True gods were the favored children of the entire world. Even when the ancient Arcane civilization had reached its pinnacle, it still crumbled to ash under the gods' wrath.
Slaying a god—even with the combined might of an Archmage and a floating city—was bound to come at a price.
Soul City had already sustained a degree of damage during its last deployment when it broke the Shark-folk God of
And this time, it had been pushed through an extremely high-intensity temporal decapitation strike, placing enormous additional strain on the already damaged vessel.
The fact that it had held together until now was testament solely to Leilin's superior engineering.
Through his divine sense, Leilin could now perceive the entirety of the floating city—its silvery-grey surface was pockmarked with craters. The main炮 ports had been severely damaged, and the far more critical dimensional core had also taken hits. Only the Mithril Core still retained sufficient kinetic energy.
—The death throes of two true gods. Not exactly something easy to weather.
"But… it was all worth it…"
A Divine Authority crystal, its surface slightly cracked and emanating a dark, faint glow, materialized in Leilin's hand. A trace of intoxicated fascination appeared in his eyes.
"The Divine Authority of Death of Orcs…"
This was Leilin's greatest gain from killing Yidrosi this time. For it, he had even been willing to forgo looting Yidrosi's divine realm.
There was no helping it. The divine realms of different pantheons were positioned too close to one another, and all had direct conduits between them. The instant Leilin killed Yidrosi, he could already see the roaring figure of Gnush and the reinforcements from other orcish gods.
Had he lingered any longer, even if Leilin himself could have escaped, the floating city would have been torn apart.
But dwelling on it now served no purpose. Leilin only knew that he had succeeded this time! That was enough!
"A pity, though… after this, the rumors that the God of Slaughter Kukulkan is an oath-breaking, greedy, and mad deity will surely have spread throughout the divine community. I'm afraid very few gods will dare form alliances with me in the future…"
Leilin gazed at the Divine Authority crystal in his hand, then let out a cold laugh.
If he were truly a native of the world of gods, doing this would naturally be seeking his own death. Having offended so many gods at once, the only path left would be to cower in the Hells until he died.
Unfortunately, his true body was a
Even if he avoided offending those gods now, once his true body descended, would any god still be willing to ally with a Wizard?
On the other hand, although he had now offended practically every other god and his reputation was all but destroyed, Leilin had obtained what he wanted.
Moreover, with the deterrent of his divine plane in the third layer of the Hells and the floating city, he could hold out long enough—until the time came to bring his true body across!
"Very soon…"
Leilin murmured low, a look of resolute determination flashing across his brow. Behind him, the phantom image of the Taglian Winged Serpent materialized directly into view.
A tremendous devouring force acted upon the Divine Authority crystal in his hand. A strange ripple emanated outward, carrying terrifying waves of death.
In that instant, Leilin felt as though he had connected with the Sea of Origin of the entire world of gods. He fully perceived the Rule of Death.
The terrifying power of the Rule manifested with crystalline clarity before his eyes—everything, all of it, was so beautiful and captivating.
The Chip's notifications were updating frantically: 《Ding! Main body's Rule Devouring activated! Commencing fusion with the Orc Death Divine Authority!》 《Ding! Conversion complete! Main body's Death Rule comprehension: 50%!!!》 Compared to other Rule Wizards who spent thousands or even tens of thousands of years grasping barely any Rule power, Leilin's progress right now was like riding a rocket! No—more terrifying than a rocket!
The Rule of Death, such an overwhelmingly powerful Rule, had been comprehended to the extent of 50% in a single instant!
Yet even so, Leilin still felt a lingering sense of dissatisfaction.
"What a shame… Yidrosi was merely a racial god of the orcs. The Death Rule contained in his Divine Authority can be at most 50%, with the rest being Rules of [Orcs], [Souls], and the like…"
"If what I had devoured was a god of death with strong divine power like
Unfortunately, Leilin possessed the wisdom to know his own limits. Having schemed against a lesser god was already his current ceiling—someone like Kreweir with strong divine power was still well beyond his reach.
At this moment, the Chip's notifications continued: 《Ding! Main body's Death Rule comprehension has reached 50%! Unlocked Death Domain!》 《Death Domain: You are the sovereign of all death. All matters related to death fall under your dominion! …Individuals who perish within the Death Domain will have their souls fall into the hands of the Lord of Death! This Domain holds priority!》 《Ding! Detected that main body possesses the Slaughter Domain, which can complement the Death Domain! Domain effects amplified!》 "A straightforward description, yet it seems to contain a great deal of hidden information…"
Leilin stroked his chin.
"The Death Domain, Lord of Death… meaning that within this Domain, all beings, powers, and even souls related to death will be under my control?"
"And… the priority over souls… does it surpass a god's dominion over the souls of their believers? If this hypothesis holds, then within my Domain, even the souls of heretics must submit to my judgment?"
"If this Domain continues to expand, eventually encompassing the entire Material World… a new underworld?"
In an instant, Leilin grasped the terrifying potential of the Death Domain.
However, all of that was a matter for the future. Above the Death Domain stood so many gods of death who needed to be dealt with one by one. Otherwise, no matter how grand the vision, it would remain nothing more than a pleasant dream.
《Ding! Main body data refreshed!》 By now, the Chip had already updated Leilin's latest statistics: [Name: Leilin Farell. Divine Name: God of Slaughter—Kukulkan!
Race: Human. Rank: Lesser God. Alignment: Lawful Evil. Divine Authorities: Slaughter,
Arcane Rank: Thirty-Fifth. Strength: 29. Agility: 29. Constitution: 29. Spirit: 35. Arcane Energy: 350. Divine Power: 800. Status: Healthy. Possessed Talents: Legendary Fortitude, Encyclopedic Knowledge, Dream Sight, Supernatural Adaptation,
"Very soon… with the Death Domain obtained, it will provide an enormous boost to my comprehension of the Death Rule… condensing the Divine Authority is only a matter of time…"
"Slaughter and Death… these two most powerful Divine Authorities, both oriented toward the forces of darkness—if they were combined, what kind of might would they produce?"
A look of anticipation slowly surfaced on Leilin's face.
…
At the very moment Leilin devoured the Death Divine Authority.
Within the Underworld, deep inside a city of the undead, a terrifying roar erupted without warning: "Someone dares to covet my Throne of Death!!!"
The voice was so vast, carrying the majesty of a god, that countless undead spirits involuntarily dropped to their knees, their translucent, ashen bodies trembling violently.
This was Kreweir! The god of death with strong divine power! The lord of the Underworld!
He had devoted himself to the task of building a peaceful realm of the dead. His impartial attitude had won the favor of the primordial force of Death, and he had already ascended to the very pinnacle of godhood!
All that remained was to eliminate the gods of death within other races and claim the complete sovereignty over death!
It could be said that the fall of Yidrosi, the orcish god of death, was something Kreweir would have been very pleased to see—one less competitor for the same domain.
If Leilin had been willing to offer up the Death Divine Authority in exchange, he would have instantly won the friendship of this strong god.
Unfortunately, Leilin had used the Divine Authority himself. The fluctuations and changes in the primordial force of death were impossible to conceal from Kreweir, earning Leilin yet another enemy among the ranks of strong gods.
But when it came to his own fundamental path, Leilin harbored absolutely no intention of compromising or retreating.
Even if it meant provoking yet another strong god, he would not hesitate.
Of course, he was quite aware of his own limitations. He decided that henceforth, unless the Final War resumed and his true body descended, his godly avatar would remain stationed in the divine realm and never venture out again.
With the protection of both the Hell's primordial force and his divine realm, Leilin still had the confidence to keep himself safe.
And Kreweir, who understood this all too well, could do nothing beyond venting his fury and preparing to cause a few small troubles regarding the ownership of believers' souls.