Night Ranger - Chapter 541-549
Faniya.
This wasn’t any ordinary name. In fact, there was only one person in the entire Universe that could use this kind of name.
Moon Goddess Faniya, one of the Ancient Gods. She was an ancient powerhouse like the Nature God and the Elven God, but was extremely low-key.
Most people knew very little about her, and she wasn’t seen during the war between the Gods. Many disasters that struck the Gods in ancient times had been skillfully avoided by her.
She seemed to always stand aloof from all events, silently carrying out her own role.
In the darkness of the night, there would always be a bright moon guiding lost travelers back home.
The followers of the Moon Goddess were rare, but there were many more people that truly respected her from the bottom of their hearts.
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It was so even for the Gods.
From what Marvin knew, during the era when the Ancient Gods were fading, the Moon Goddess was the most respected Ancient God.
At the Gods’ Assembly concerning the attack on the Universe Magic Pool, Faniya chose to remain silent. That was the reason the three Great Gods were confident enough to work together to carry out that matter.
Otherwise, even if Lance wasn’t here, the New Gods wouldn’t have dared to act so recklessly.
After all, the New Gods, in the Ancient Gods’ eyes, were only a group of fledglings that had just shed their mortality.
…
If someone else had claimed to see Faniya, others would have snorted disdainfully.
But when that name came from the Wilderness God’s mouth, no one thought he was joking.
The Moon Goddess descended. Silently.
That nebulous figure couldn’t be seen directly. Marvin found that regardless of how he looked at her, he could only see a hazy moonlight.
Faniya really was as mysterious as the legends said.
Her aura didn’t seem very powerful, but Marvin knew that this was a trick.
He had noticed that when the Moon Goddess arrived, the aura of the Wilderness God that had been covering the entire area disappeared.
It wasn’t just suppressed… It had completely disappeared!
The stone on the petrified man’s skin began to collapse!
It felt like his own skin was shedding.
As the Wilderness God kept laughing crazily, that layer of stone skin crumbled into powder, revealing a bloody humanoid figure!
He was badly mutilated. Looking carefully, one could see that part of his body seemed to be gelatinous.
That person would scare everyone, regardless of where he was.
But somehow, they didn’t feel any fear.
“This is Lady Faniya’s glory,” Minsk said emotionally.
“She is completely overpowering the half-awakened Wilderness God’s energy. Great, with Lady Faniya making a move, the Wilderness God’s resurrection is sure to fail!”
Marvin nodded.
The Moon Goddess’ appearance relieved him too.
Although he hadn’t clashed with the Wilderness God yet, the stress caused by their urgent situation couldn’t be described as merely being intense.
He originally thought that he wouldn’t encounter too many problems in the Crimson Wasteland. He didn’t expect that after his run-in with the Dream Guardians, he would meet the Wilderness God, and now, Faniya.
‘After this matter is over, I’ll just obediently bring Minsk back to Feinan. At least, before the Universe Magic Pool completely collapses, there won’t be too many dangerous things.’
Marvin smiled bitterly. His strength could be considered to be at the peak of Feinan, but it was negligible when looking at the entire Universe.
Moreover, he still had to get his reward from the old fox of the Migratory Bird Council.
He had narrowly escaped the Wilderness Hall, and hadn’t he gotten most of the benefits he wanted already?
…
After that hazy silhouette appeared, she didn’t say anything for a long time.
As for the Wilderness God, he only said a word and then also fell silent.
Clearly, he wasn’t in a good situation.
Marvin could see that the Life and Death array he had been trying to change had once more returned to Bandel’s desired arrangement.
The Wilderness God was in the Sacrifice spot again, and Lady Silvermoon had returned to the Life position.
This was all due to the Moon Goddess’ sigh.
She really was too powerful.
“You are Faniya?”
Unlike the others, who were filled with respect, Hathaway didn’t seem to be affected much by the Moon Goddess.
She stared at that moonlight, calmly continuing, “I remembered that we had an agreement.”
“Moreover, you also went against your oath! You imparted your Witchcraft to an outsider!”
The outsider she was talking about was clearly Bandel.
But how could Bandel bother to bicker with Hathaway now?
As soon as the Moon Goddess descended, he had started frantically working on the array!
3 times the speed!
5 times the speed!
10 times!
‘Not enough! Not enough! Just a bit faster!’
Bandel was supposed to have a cold and indifferent heart, but it felt like a flame was now burning within it.
He didn’t even glance at the Goddess and only buried himself in his work.
Under the effect of the Life and Death ritual, the Wilderness God’s power was continuously siphoned away. It all flew into Miss Silvermoon’s body through the complex six-pointed star!
A faint, silver flame began to flicker over her ruptured arm!
This was the sign of her Divine Fire being re-ignited!
To resurrect a God, a God needed to be sacrificed!
This was what Bandel had been planning for so long!
He didn’t want to resurrect the piece of shit Wilderness God, the Evil God who led him astray, but rather…
His lover.
…
“Be at peace, Witch Queen,” Faniya eventually responded.
Her voice was very pleasant. Even though her words were in Common, they gave out a serene, ethereal feeling.
“I shall soon strip the Witchcraft from Bandel. And as compensation, you will have my aid you when you reforge the [Heim Scepter].”
“You should be aware of how many people detest the Witches. It will be no easy matter for the Anzed Witches to rise again. You will need my assistance.”
Hathaway snorted, “We obviously know, or else we wouldn’t have signed that agreement with you in those times. Allowing you to borrow our [Night Flower] was already a huge sign of sincerity from the Anzeds. In contrast, your favor seems somewhat cheap.”
The Moon Goddess didn’t seem bothered at all despite being faced with Hathaway’s overbearing attitude. “Each generation of Witch Queen has been very outstanding, and I am even more surprised by what happened to you. It was truly unexpected for you to be able to break through the Anzed Curse.”
“As for my sincerity, you can rest assured. After all, I originally was one of the Anzed.”
This marked the end of their discussion.
But the onlookers couldn’t help but stare in shock after hearing these revelations.
The Moon Goddess had a contract with the Anzed. Marvin could faintly feel something like that from Hathaway’s previous words. But he hadn’t expected Faniya and the Anzeds to be so deeply connected!
As Marvin was silently thinking over everything he had just heard, he suddenly felt a pair of eyes looking at him.
“So, you are [that person].” Faniya’s voice carried a hint of curiosity and amazement.
‘That person?’
Marvin was intrigued by Faniya’s words.
When she said [that person], she had paused.
“Great Moon Goddess, I don’t understand what you mean.”
“[That person]?”
His expression was full of doubt.
Marvin never met Faniya in his previous life, but according to a player who had managed to become the Priestess of the Moon Goddess, Faniya was very good-tempered. She took pity on the mortals, but for some reason, she couldn’t seem to interfere too much with Feinan.
Her reputation was also excellent among the Ancient Gods, so Marvin wasn’t worried about her causing him harm.
“A great existence once spoke of some events that would one day take place,” the Moon Goddess calmly explained. “[That person] is the main character of those events. And that is you, Marvin Cridland.”
Marvin was suddenly startled, his mind in chaos.
What was this?
Even a fool could guess the identity of the great existence that the Moon Goddess was talking about.
Wizard God Lance!
So his transmigration really was related to the mysterious supreme God?
Marvin couldn’t take his eyes off the Moon Goddess as he eagerly awaited the rest of her words.
Hathaway and Minsk were looking at Marvin somewhat differently.
But Faniya didn’t linger on that topic for too long. She only indifferently murmured, “That was a long time ago. You can think of it as a prophecy. And since it is a prophecy, the matters that it describes are not definite.”
“Even a major prophecy is unable to discern all futures, because the future is something created through people’s choices.”
“Whether we speak of mankind or Gods, their futures were fashioned by their own decisions, and no one else can interfere.”
At this point, her words took an abrupt turn. “You must be surprised as to why I am here.”
“It has been many a moon since I last left the God Realms. It will take some time for this ritual to finish, so I shall tell you a story in the meantime.”
Everyone looked at each other in dismay.
The Moon Goddess was going to personally tell them a story?
If they told that to anyone else, no one would believe them.
Marvin and the others naturally didn’t dare to speak.
In fact, Faniya didn’t give them the chance to decline as she directly started talking, slowly narrating what had happened.
As he listened, Marvin gradually understood the whole picture.
His gaze remained on Miss Silvermoon’s statue, because she was at the center of everything.
…
In the distant 3rd Era, the most chaotic period.
The Fate Tablet descended, leaving unprecedented chaos in its wake.
Many people used it to become heroes, overlords, kings, and even Gods!
But for every person that was successful, many more would die tragically.
At the same time, the recently established Crimson Wasteland saw bitter struggles every day!
Divine Servants, Descendants, and Angels fought with Demons, Devils, and Evil Spirits.
At that time, mankind was still relatively weak and was unable to carve out their own place in the world. They were still relying on the power of the heavens to survive in this land.
But the Wizard culture from ancient times was still slowly spreading.
Among them, the brightest was the Regis Wizard School!
This was a group of talented Wizards who gathered ancient knowledge and loved researching all kinds of magical things.
And their leader was a talented Wizard named Bandel!
That group of Wizards was especially interested in biological transformation, and one day, they discovered a very special vine.
When they found it, it appeared to be on the verge of death. Due to their curiosity toward everything exotic and unexplained, they transplanted the vine into their base.
At that time, unbeknownst to the Wizards, the disaster was already incubating.
They never tired of studying this special vine. It had incredible regenerative ability and an aggressive nature. If they could extract its power and convert it into magic, it would certainly be a huge leap forward.
The one in charge of this study was their leader, Bandel.
They quickly achieved some results, making the vine a lot more active. But although it had absorbed a large amount of arcane energy, it still looked very weak.
Even when a few older Wizards warned about the dangers of that vine, after the higher-ups considered the risks, the study was allowed to proceed.
Bandel was in contact with the vine day and night. He couldn’t make progress on the study of the vine on his own, but he accidentally discovered that the vine was self-aware.
They began communicating.
Bandel was seriously guarded at first, but after the vine provided him many new spells and rituals, that hesitation gradually disappeared.
He began studying this new specimen like it was his most precious treasure.
His actions became rather eccentric, and he began to drift apart from his peers, frequently studying by himself.
He also always kept that vine close to his side.
With the vine’s help, he learnt many spells that he had never even conceived of before, and his power progressed rapidly. Even the strongest Divine Servants in the Crimson Wasteland weren’t his match anymore.
The young Wizard was very proud of himself.
He felt like one of the heroes in those novels that the commoners read, with his strength rising without bounds due to the help of a secret treasure.
Bandel regarded that vine as his teacher, and it certainly acted like his teacher, answering all of his questions.
It just gave him one condition.
He couldn’t let any others know of its existence.
Bandel agreed, very happy to cooperate.
But good things don’t last forever.
A girl reappeared, setting the disaster in motion.
That girl was Miss Silvermoon.
…
Miss Silvermoon had once toured the Crimson Wasteland as a mortal. In the process, she got to know the young Bandel. The two hit it off and fell in love with each other.
They became partners.
But due to her stature, she knew that she couldn’t stay in the Crimson Wasteland.
She ultimately made a decision. She wanted to confess everything to her mother, Great Moon Goddess Faniya.
Bandel was very calm about this and agreed with her decision. He sent Miss Silvermoon back to the God Realms.
Because there was a difference in the time flow between the Crimson Wasteland and the God Realms, Miss Silvermoon didn’t appear for over a decade.
It was during that period that the depressed Bandel began researching the vine obsessively, becoming rather eccentric.
And when Miss Silvermoon happily returned from the God Realms, telling Bandel that her mother had agreed to meet with him, the vine suddenly revealed its sinister fangs!
In the ancient era, the Wilderness God had fought against the other Gods and was finally defeated by the Wizard God. Only parts of his body remained.
That vine was among those.
Relying on the resources of the Regis Wizards, he had started recovering, but he wasn’t satisfied with just that.
Only by absorbing far more power could he regain the strength that he once had as an Ancient Evil God.
He helped Bandel only to gain the naive Wizard’s trust and better implement his own plan.
The Wilderness God was overjoyed when Miss Silvermoon finally returned.
Taking advantage of the time when the two were meeting intimately, the Wilderness God changed back to the form of his main body and fully exerted the power of his Domain!
The entire base of the Regis Wizards sank into turmoil!
As the Ancient Evil God’s power overflowed through the Wizards’ minds, they began to cast spells crazily all around them.
As for the surrounding creatures, they also started transforming.
A few Wizards had high enough Willpower to resist, but it was hard for them to escape all the unpredictable attacks of their peers.
This all happened too suddenly, leaving Bandel utterly bewildered.
He was about to ask around and try to figure out what exactly was going on, but the Wilderness God didn’t give him the opportunity. He used a skill to control Bandel before using a [Dark Spear] that had been passed down since ancient times to pierce Miss Silvermoon through the heart.
Miss Silvermoon instantly turned into a statue. All her power had been removed by the Wilderness God.
Bandel filled with unbearable anguish, but he was powerless to act!
He forcibly endured the pain and continued treating the Wilderness God as his teacher.
The Wilderness God apparently approved of Bandel’s flattery and decided not to kill him, taking him along.
He started causing slaughter everywhere, and Bandel became his accomplice. Soon, the Wilderness God had recovered some 40% to 50% of his strength.
At that point, Faniya, who had been shocked by the death of her daughter, finally found and confronted them!
After an intense fight, Faniya defeated the Wilderness God, but she didn’t manage to kill him!
Wizard God Lance was busy fighting some terrifying beings in the Astral Sea, and thus, Faniya could only rely on herself.
After the Wilderness God fled, Bandel revealed his identity and told Faniya everything he knew about the Wilderness God.
The Moon Goddess didn’t vent on Bandel, but the latter sank into endless agony and self-loathing. He swore that he would resurrect his lover and condemn the Wilderness God to eternal damnation.
Faniya knew that resurrecting a God was almost impossible, but faced with Bandel’s piteous begging, she agreed to some of his requests.
The two temporarily parted ways to deal with their own matters.
Bandel began looking for a way to resurrect a God, and Faniya began searching for a way to restrain the Wilderness God.
Time was a fantastic thing. Sometimes, a hundred years would pass in a blink, while sometimes they would feel endless.
Feinan’s 3rd Era was coming to its end.
Around that time, fellow who came to be known as the Winter Assassin began to dazzle everyone.
Soon after his rise, Faniya found something that would be able to restrain the Wilderness God.
That was the Anzed Witches’ [Night Flower]!
Thus, she personally visited the Anzeds, who were already in hiding, and reached a secret agreement with the Witch Queen.
At the same time, in order to seal the Wilderness God, Faniya needed an Artifact that had gone through the baptism of the Wizard God.
Thus, the unlucky Winter Assassin ended up becoming the Witch Queen’s target.
In fact, considering the circumstances, the Winter Assassin really did suffer an unjust attack.
After Miss Silvermoon fell, he also happened to be tempering himself in the Crimson Wasteland. By a stroke of fortune, he obtained that pair of daggers, the Cold Light’s Grasps.
The Artifact greatly increased the Assassin’s strength, and he soared in status after returning to Feinan.
At the height of his influence, he established the precursor to the Assassin Alliance while also becoming a dazzling figure in Feinan.
He killed a God and assassinated a fierce Overlord. He even started establishing his own territory.
Even many powerhouses who had the opportunity to ascend were afraid of him.
He was also walking on the path of ascension, and Glynos, who competed with him, was far inferior.
Because Faniya never acted in Feinan, she handed the task of retrieving the daggers to the Witch Queen.
Marvin knew a bit about what happened next.
But he had heard the story from the Winter Assassin’s point of view before. In short, the two met and they both had terrible tempers, particularly the Witch Queen, who was extremely domineering.
She demanded that the Winter Assassin hand over the Artifact.
How could the Winter Assassin agree to the Witch Queen’s demand when these daggers had brought him to his peak?
She was going for his Artifact! Who did she think she was? A great Ancient God? This was blatant robbery!
The two fought in silence.
The tragic part was that despite being extremely powerful, the Winter Assassin fell for a trap because it was the first time he was facing Witchcraft.
The Witch Queen used a strange method to turn him into a Wisp, a lifeform that could keep on living for many years, with a practically infinite lifespan.
After leaving some words behind for her victim, the Witch Queen returned to Faniya and handed her the Cold Light’s Grasps.
Feinan’s famous Winter Assassin suddenly vanished without a trace.
This led to Glynos successfully obtaining the Shadow fragment of the Fate Tablet and ascending to become the Shadow Prince.
‘That guy must be the most unlucky person of that era,’ Marvin thought.
Shortly after, his mind drifted in another direction. ‘Women sure can be unreasonable. I didn’t expect the Witch Queen to be so excessive.’
In any case, the Anzed Witches signed a contract with Faniya.
They lent her their most important Night Flower, and the Witch Queen herself was wounded so heavily that she died not long after.
But the power of the Anzed Witches should never be underestimated.
The remaining Witches used an ancient taboo technique. They sealed the soul of their Witch Queen into the bloodline of an ordinary clan member.
It formed a curse. The curse would occasionally appear, but it wouldn’t affect most people.
This was later known as the [Ancient Witch Curse].
It was a way to make sure that the inheritance of the Witch Queen lived on. The Witches had no choice but to do this in order to pass on her knowledge and power.
Time passed, and ultimately, Hathaway was afflicted with the Witch Curse.
Despite the fact that she showed outstanding potential to be a Legend Wizard ever since she was a child, her mother was deeply worried about it.
When she was still young, she set off looking for traces of the Anzeds, trying to find the few remaining Witches so that she could beg them to rescue her daughter.
Marvin knew about what eventually happened regarding her curse.
In order to save Marvin’s life, Hathaway sealed herself at the Black Coral Islands. Scorched by Dark Phoenix’s flame, she broke through the fetters of time and recovered a part of the Witch Queen’s memories. But because that power was too large for her, she took a long time to absorb it. Her body was also transformed by the power of the Witchcraft and started redeveloping from a child to an adult.
She would regain part of her power with each year of growth.
As for when she would finally reach her peak, even Hathaway herself didn’t know.
Her mother brought her back to the Anzeds when she was at her weakest, and after making sure that she was gradually recovering, she persuaded the rest of the Witches to give Hathaway the five-colored flower and the Ethereal Jar. With those in hand, Hathaway proceeded to the Crimson Wasteland. They had calculated that the time was approaching and that the agreement with the Moon Goddess Faniya had come to its end.
It was time to recover the Witchcraft they had lent her.
As for the petal of the Cyan Flower that Marvin had gathered in the Ethereal Jar, it had been stolen by the Wilderness God long ago when the Heim Scepter, the symbol of the Anzeds’ supreme Authority, shattered into pieces.
Hathaway had come to the Crimson Wasteland to settle the matters of the past.
…
“In fact, even had you not been able to break the curse, I would still have lent you a hand.”
“I was watching you silently from my God Realm… Both of you.”
The Moon Goddess was looking at Hathaway at the start of her sentence, but she had turned toward Marvin at the end.
“You joined hands to bar a wicked person from ascending to become the Goddess of Magic, a laudable feat.”
“I had used my avatar to approach many times, only to find that you were able to overcome the obstacles with your own power,” she praised.
She then returned to the story.
Time flew back to the 3rd Era.
…
After getting the Night Flower and the Cold Light’s Grasps, Faniya kept working on them day and night, eventually smelting the Night Flower’s power into the Cold Light’s Grasps.
The Wilderness God couldn’t be killed, so she wanted to use her own daughter’s daggers to seal him.
She found Bandel, who had always been paying attention to the trail of the Wilderness God.
In this world, no one knew the Wilderness God better than Bandel. He helped locate the Evil God and then left the fighting to Faniya.
But just sealing the Wilderness God away wasn’t the outcome he wanted. He still needed to endure patiently.
Despite the Moon Goddess successfully using the Cold Light’s Grasps to seal away the Wilderness God’s main body after killing everything else in the Wilderness Hall, Miss Silvermoon’s remains were still in the Regis Ruins.
This was Bandel’s lifelong regret.
In order to resurrect Miss Silvermoon, he spared no effort and scoured the lands for the rarest and most taboo knowledge.
Faniya didn’t stop him. Even though she believed that his goal was impossible to achieve, she provided him some assistance.
Such as the Witchcraft from the Night Flower’s Authority.
Afterwards, Faniya returned to the Astral Sea, occasionally checking back on Bandel’s actions.
Bandel grew increasingly stronger, but a mortal’s lifespan was limited.
So he turned himself into a Lich.
His only desire was to resurrect his lover.
From the 3rd Era to now, the end of the 4th Era, he had suffered greatly from the passage of time, becoming indifferent and ruthless.
But his obsession never changed.
He had always been looking for a way to resurrect a God. At the same time, he didn’t want to let the Wilderness God off lightly.
A seal was just a minor punishment.
Ultimately, in an abandoned corner of the Universe, he found an ancient book that contained within it a special method to resurrect a God. Armed with that knowledge and the ritual he had learnt from the Wilderness God, he had made so much progress.
Thus, he began his operation.
He spent a long time making exacting preparations. For the sake of winning the Wilderness God’s trust, he didn’t hesitate to kill countless innocents.
Faniya was disgusted by Bandel’s actions, but for some reason, she didn’t stop him.
Perhaps she still had hope.
The years passed, and eventually, everything was ready. All that was still needed for the resurrection was the final sacrifice.
Bandel understood that only if there was enough blood would he be able to awaken the Wilderness God’s consciousness and truly gain his trust.
He opened up the Wilderness Hall and the Autumn Hunting Ground and lured in all the Legends.
He successfully gained the trust of the Wilderness God’s avatar and obtained his spark of Source of Fire that he had been nurturing for all these years.
And then, the current world-shaking event broke out in the dungeon.
…
The entire story didn’t seem complicated, but it actually involved many sensitive and shocking factors.
The aloof Faniya, the foolish mad Lich, the malicious Wilderness God, and the mysterious Anzed Witches…
Marvin smiled bitterly after hearing the story.
His trip to the Crimson Wasteland to get Minsk ended up getting him dragged into such a huge matter.
“These are the events that culminated in your confrontation with the Wilderness God today. It is not as complicated as you imagined, right?”
A rare bit of emotion could be heard in the Moon Goddess’ voice as she concluded, “Gods can have passions and obsessions too, and like any mortal, they can err.”
“Why did you tell us all this?” Marvin asked.
The Moon Goddess gently answered, “After being drawn into these matters, you have the right to know the truth.”
“I know that you have a very discerning eye, but I don’t want you to be misled, so I simply revealed everything to you.”
Marvin frowned as he wondered, ‘Why does Faniya have such a great opinion of me?’
‘Could this be related to the prophecy regarding [that person]?’
But at that time, Faniya no longer seemed to be in the mood to chat.
The radiance emanating from her body was becoming brighter.
As for the Wilderness God’s body, it was starting to distort even more!
The bloody figure of a man collapsed.
A lump of blood floated into the air, and red barbs kept appearing around it. From this distance, it looked like a crimson hedgehog.
And on the other end of the six-pointed star, Miss Silvermoon’s body also became brighter and brighter.
The silver Divine Fire was seething with energy, and a silvery liquid flowed out, apparently from nowhere.
A brand new Divine Vessel seemed to have formed.
Bandel was still frantically pushing the ritual forward.
The black fog over his body was becoming very faint, and his strength was already spent.
But he didn’t stop, and instead frantically drove the ritual to work faster still!
They all watched the scene in silence.
Marvin didn’t know what he should say.
Bandel definitely wasn’t a good person.
But right now, Marvin hoped that he would succeed.
There was no special reason… It was just an instinctive feeling.
At that time, Molly grabbed the hem of Marvin’s clothes and softly cried, “Something bad is going to happen.”
“Mister Marvin, where is Uncle Griffin? Molly misses him.”
“Please, can I meet him?”
Under Molly’s begging, Marvin hesitated for a bit, before finally nodding slowly.
He knew he wouldn’t be able to keep concealing Griffin’s death from her.
That girl’s fate was bound to be complicated. He wondered if Faniya would be willing to remove the curse on Molly.
Marvin glanced at the public square. Clearly, the ritual was reaching its most important part.
Both the Lich and the Moon Goddess were focused on the array. They didn’t have time to pay attention to other matters right now.
Marvin inwardly sighed before silently taking out Griffin’s body from the Origami space.
The corpse looked like a solid statue, still in a half-kneeling posture.
He looked exactly like before.
Molly struggled free from Marvin’s embrace and opened her eyes wide as she looked at Griffin.
“You are my Guardian, you need to keep protecting me, right?”
“Uncle Griffin, you said that to me, you can’t go back against your oath.”
“Wake up. Molly is afraid, something bad is going to happen!” the little girl muttered in pain.
Marvin and Hathaway glanced at each other. They both felt sympathetic toward the girl.
Molly had displayed some unusual abilities before, such as seeing through Marvin’s Stealth.
What was the bad thing that she was talking about?
Hathaway didn’t say anything. She watched Molly, but the longer she looked, the more doubts appeared in her mind.
She simply couldn’t see through that girl. Just like with Bandel, Hathaway could feel a very powerful force within the girl’s body.
But her aura was extremely weak. She could die anytime under the curse’s suppression.
Those careless mumbles of hers seemed magical.
Marvin took a deep breath and slowly approached, taking Molly’s hand. “Rest assured, although Mister Griffin already died, I’ll protect you,” Marvin said sincerely.
Griffin was a man worth respecting. Marvin would definitely protect the girl he left behind. Even if it was just because of that previous kindness, Marvin would find a way to remove her curse.
“Eh?”
Who would have thought that Molly would react strongly to that sentence?
She turned, wiping the blood flowing from her eyes, and gave Marvin a serious look. “You want to protect me?”
Marvin nodded.
“I am willing.”
“Then you want to become my Guardian like Uncle Griffin?” the little girl pressed.
Marvin froze. Guardian, what? The Guardian class? He was a Ranger, a Ruler of the Night, not a Knight-type class.
‘Maybe she has read too many of those knight novels…’ Marvin sweated.
But he couldn’t reject the little girl, so he still nodded.
“I am willing.”
Hathaway frowned at this. She looked at Marvin strangely, apparently wanting to say something, but not able to get any words out.
She could feel that Molly was unusual and also knew Marvin’s way of thinking.
But this atmosphere, these words… Why did it all feel like an oath ceremony?
Molly smiled happily.
She took a tight hold on Marvin’s hand.
At that time, Marvin felt a burning sensation in his palm!
He let go reflexively and checked his hand, but didn’t find anything unusual.
“Is there something wrong?” Molly had a pitiful expression.
Marvin looked thoughtfully at his palm, and then took the child’s hand once again.
“It’s nothing.”
‘Did I imagine it?’
He checked his interface but didn’t notice any change there.
But the feeling of that burning hot pain seemed so real.
‘Am I starting to hallucinate after enduring so much pressure in the Crimson Wasteland? No way, right?’
Marvin chuckled at himself.
The ritual had already reached its final stages.
The Moon Goddess’ radiance was now blindingly bright, and the Wilderness God began to howl in grief.
As everyone’s attention was drawn back to him, what was left of him started melting!
He had gone from a stone statue to a blood-ball thing, and now, only drops of blood remained from the Wilderness God!
Each drop of blood was Ancient Divine blood, full of supreme power!
Faniya’s expression was becoming more serious.
All her power was used to suppress the Wilderness God, and with Bandel managing the array, the Ancient Divine Blood was ignited and brought to the other end.
Miss Silvermoon’s entire body started igniting!
The silver flame flaring up was breathtaking!
The Divine Vessel had been condensed!
The Divine Fire had successfully been ignited!
The Lich’s soul fires were flickering, seemingly overjoyed!
His efforts over the years hadn’t been for nothing.
After using so much energy and so many sacrifices, even turning an Ancient God into one of the sacrifices, Miss Silvermoon’s body had finished recovering!
That shattered arm had also regrown.
But her eyes were still closed.
There was only one step left.
Her soul!
When Miss Silvermoon died, her soul had been smashed by the Wilderness God’s Dark Spear, dispersing throughout the Universe.
This was the most troublesome part of resurrecting someone.
But Bandel had prepared for so many years, so how could he possibly neglect to address this?
The Life and Death ritual then reached the last step!
Soul Fragment Gathering!
Miss Silvermoon’s body rose up slowly and a strange, dark vortex took shape around her body.
“Luna, come back…”
The whirlpool started rotating wildly at the Lich’s call.
At that instant, all the powerful existences in the Universe sensed that ruthless swirling power!
Faded soul fragments flowed toward Miss Silvermoon’s body like a river toward the sea.
And the biggest fragment surprisingly came from the Underworld!
But at that time, a large hand suddenly stretched out, broke through the boundaries between the planes, and pulled that soul fragment back.
“Who dares to forcibly snatch a soul from the Underworld?” a voice shouted vigorously.
Bandel felt anxious!
He didn’t expect that the most important soul fragment was actually in the Underworld. Miss Silvermoon’s resurrection had attracted the attention of an Underworld Sovereign!
He simply couldn’t fight against that fierce existence.
But although he had no other way, there was someone else here who could intervene!
A bright moon rose up between the boundaries, and with a soft movement, that large hand was easily pushed away!
Under the vortex’s pull, the last soul fragment returned to Miss Silvermoon’s body!
Bandel was overjoyed! He flew in front of Miss Silvermoon.
His main body had been revealed, an unsightly skeleton. His body only contained his soul, and no organs!
He held Miss Silvermoon’s body and slowly descended.
“Luna… Luna…” He tenderly whispered his lover’s name.
She opened her eyes.
——————–( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)————————-
Between the boundaries of the planes, two powerful existences were facing each other.
“Faniya, you should be clear about the meaning of your actions!”
“You are provoking the Underworld as a representative of the Gods!” the deep voice warned from behind the large palm.
The glow of the moonlight was faint, but it carried enormous power.
“I do not represent the Gods. This is merely a private matter.”
“If the Underworld wants to interfere, then I won’t mind recreating the savage war from those years once more.”
The Moon Goddess’ voice was very gentle, but it was awe-inspiring!
She was a very low-key God, to the point that people sometimes forgot how powerful she was!
The owner of the large palm remained silent at the thinly veiled threat.
After some time, he slowly muttered, “You won’t get the result you want. You should know that.”
“You boast that you can understand everything, but you are unable to alter that “everything”. This is the greatest sorrow of the Gods.”
After saying this, the large palm disappeared, leaving only an echo behind. “Faniya, the savage fight really will happen again, but this time, we won’t lose.”
…
In the Regis Ruins.
Bandel was filled with joy!
Even if they were standing far away, Marvin and the others could also sense the fluctuations in the Lich’s mind becoming extremely intense!
In theory, Liches didn’t have feelings.
But sometimes, emotions couldn’t be defined by theories.
He had worked so hard for so many years, by fair means or foul. Maybe it couldn’t be said to be love anymore… maybe it had already become only an obsession.
Regardless of what it was, it truly existed.
“Luna…”
Bandel seemed to have lost his ability to speak properly, only repeating that name again and again.
Miss Silvermoon woke up and gave him a gentle smile.
But then, her expression turned extremely sinister and she thrust both hands into the Lich’s skull!
As the Lich howled, Marvin and the others discovered in shock that there was a scarlet barb behind Miss Silvermoon!
“You aren’t her!” Bandel howled mournfully.
Miss Silvermoon’s hand grabbed his soul fire from inside his skull!
A familiar voice came out of her mouth. “Of course I’m not her.”
“That pitiful little thing? Her soul is far too weak, how could it deserve such a perfect resurrected body?”
“Dear Bandel, you really did as you promised, Teacher is very satisfied by your actions!”
The Wilderness God!
Everyone wanted to act, but it was already too late!
“Master!”
The Jade Banshee pounced over as if her life depended on it, but a crimson ivy slammed into her and sent her flying!
As for the Two-Headed Bone Dragon, he was observing the situation. Faced with the power of the Wilderness God, he shivered and knelt on the ground.
“How could this happen?!”
Marvin was shocked.
The Life and Death array had already been completed, and Miss Silvermoon was at the Life position. How could the Wilderness God have resurrected?
How did he get into Miss Silvermoon’s body?
“Just now.” Hathaway had a complicated expression.
She pointed at the remains of the Sacrifice location.
Only a mess remained there. The Wilderness God’s blood had already disappeared.
It must have happened in an instant!
‘When Moon Goddess Faniya had to block the palm stretching out from the Underworld, Miss Silvermoon’s soul successfully returned to her body,’ Marvin thought to himself.
‘It’s absurd that he was able to find a way to take control of her body in such a short time!’
But that was the only possible explanation.
“Molly, you just said that something bad would happen, were you referring to this?” Marvin hurriedly asked.
Molly looked blankly at Marvin, nodded for a bit, and then shook her head.
Ultimately, the little girl pulled Marvin’s hand. “I am very scared.”
Marvin took a deep breath and reassured, “Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.”
At that time, he was overworking his brain, thinking about the possibilities.
The Wilderness God indeed managed to occupy the body of Miss Silvermoon somehow, but this wasn’t a true resurrection!
The soul of Miss Silvermoon had been dissipated for many years and was in an extremely fragile state.
Any God at full strength would have been able to directly drive the Wilderness God away from their body.
The only one able to salvage the situation was Moon Goddess Faniya!
But she was now facing an Underworld Sovereign at the edge of the planes’ boundaries!
“We only need to delay for a bit!” Marvin told Hathaway. “Help me look after her!”
He then disappeared like a shadow and charged toward Miss Silvermoon!
Hathaway froze, with an angry expression appearing on her face. “Making me babysit?”
She squinted her eyes as she looked around, and Minsk, who was on the side, suddenly shivered!
“Help me look after her!” Hathaway glanced fiercely at Minsk, before charging over!
Molly looked at Minsk timidly.
The latter forced a smile, patting Molly’s head, unable to say a word.
…
Marvin was like lightning, immediately approaching “Miss Silvermoon”.
He could clearly feel that the Lich’s almost depleted lifeforce was gradually being absorbed by the Wilderness God!
Although he didn’t really care about the Lich, stopping the Wilderness God from recovering was most important.
If they let him merge with that resurrected Divine Body, it would be a disaster!
Marvin recklessly used the power from his advanced Divine Vessel!
[Domain – Shadow], activated!
[Domain – Slaughter], activated!
Along with the still active Plant Metamorphosis, the three Domains were activated, giving him a kind of Divine aura!
He ignored the Life and Death array and spun around, ruthlessly kicked Bandel’s skull!
The pitiful Lich was kicked away by Marvin!
That spinning kick only used the strength in Marvin’s body. But with the Domains’ bonuses, the power exerted was frightening.
Even the Wilderness God was caught off guard and couldn’t stop him.
The skull was kicked flying and crashed into the crumbling wall of a nearby Wizard Tower.
Marvin’s move actually saved Bandel’s life!
His soul fire was stored in his skull. Even if his body fell apart, he would just have to find some bones to reconstruct it.
As long as his phylactery remained intact and his soul fire wasn’t extinguished, it would be very difficult for a Lich to die.
Marvin was stopping the Wilderness God from gathering more energy!
“You dare stop me!” The Wilderness God, using Miss Silvermoon’s appearance, was brimming with an evil aura. The ivy behind suddenly opened up, looking like a frightening Crimson Spider!
“Step aside!” Hathaway angrily shouted.
Marvin suddenly felt a very powerful energy at them from behind him!
‘Damn! Only so little time to react?’
‘Can’t you coordinate properly?’
But there was no time to complain. Just before he would have gotten blasted, Marvin used Eternal Night Seal and sealed himself in!
Then, an ash-gray storm erupted out of nowhere. The immense force tore at and compressed Miss Silvermoon’s body.
[Witchcraft – Ashes]!
MOAR UpVote (づ⚆□⚆)づ!!! Thx <3
[Witchcraft – Ashes]!
This was the Witchcraft that Hathaway was the most proficient with and also the first Witchcraft she had understood.
That was the origin of her epithet, Ashes Witch.
Ashes Storm was the Universe’s most destructive power. With a sufficiently capable caster, it could kill even a sturdy Astral Beast!
Soon, the overgrown ivy was all torn apart!
Miss Silvermoon’s body was also starting to seem extremely sinister.
She looked up, letting out a roar that shook the entire dungeon.
The Ashes Storm tore apart her entire body. First went her skin, and then her flesh, followed by her bones starting to melt!
From the side, Marvin was completely speechless while he watched from within his Eternal Night Seal.
[Witchcraft – Ashes] was far stronger than Legendary Spells!
That ability was apparently immune to the restriction of Divine Laws!
Even if Marvin didn’t die from touching that thing, he would certainly still be left on the verge of death!
Miss Silvermoon’s body was very resilient. She was an Ancient God, after all!
Even though it was more fragile after just being revived, it wasn’t something that ordinary spells would be able to harm.
Anzeds’ Witchcraft was indeed very frightening.
But what was worrying was that even the frightening Ashes Storm didn’t completely incapacitate her!
Hathaway watched with shock as Miss Silvermoon walked out of the Ashes Storm step by step!
With each step taken, her body was recovering, leaving bloody footprints on the way.
After a dozen steps, her body had already recovered to its original state.
The Wilderness God licked her lips, “I like this feeling.”
“Witch, you are very strong, but that isn’t enough to stop me.”
“Now, I’m hungry…”
Miss Silvermoon’s eyes suddenly focused on Molly, who was beside Minsk, clutching his clothes!
“Come over, my food.”
‘Miss Silvermoon’ let out an uncanny laugh and her body disappeared without a trace!
Minsk shivered, picking up Molly and preparing to flee. But without warning, a formidable gravitational force pressed down on him!
[Divine Spell – Nature Exemption]!
He tried his best to remove the restraining spell that the Wilderness God had used on him. For this, he even used the blessings his father gave him, which had limited uses!
He did escape it.
But the Wilderness God was faster than him.
She appeared directly in front of them.
Those two beautiful eyes were filled with an insatiable greed.
“My food…”
She reached out toward Molly.
The girl shivered and loudly yelled, “Uncle Griffin! Save me!”
But Griffin didn’t appear.
Instead, a foot came out of the sky!
That foot was the size of a small mountain and it stomped down on the Wilderness God!
Minsk looked up, only to see a giant version of Marvin in front of him.
His head almost broke through the ceiling of the huge dungeon!
“I said, I’ll protect you, Molly,” Marvin calmly reasserted.
[Ruler’s Wrath]!
The little girl raised her head childishly and looked at Marvin. It took her some time before she could say, “Wow! Big Brother Marvin, you are huge…”
Black lines appeared on Marvin’s forehead. ‘Wasn’t that sentence a bit weird?’
But after using his Ruler’s Wrath, he really did become extremely tall, almost a few times taller than the Mechanical Titan.
If the dungeon had been a bit less spacious, the mountain might have already burst!
As for his stomp on the Wilderness God, he wasn’t entirely relying on just strength.
After using Ruler’s Wrath, he had an additional ability that fit the huge transformation!
[Ability – Fetters Feet]: You can easily crush your enemies under your feet. Opponents suffer from eight times the normal gravity when you are stepping on them.
This ability could temporarily suppress the Wilderness God. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to restrain her with just a stomp.
“Take Molly and leave!” Marvin looked at Hathaway, “Although I don’t know the reason, the Wilderness God clearly wants to harm her.”
Hathaway looked at Marvin’s huge figure and eventually nodded.
She gently tugged on Molly’s hands, intending to use Witchcraft to leave this place. But she didn’t expect Molly to shake her hand off.
“We can’t leave Uncle Griffin here…”
She actually ran back toward Griffin’s corpse!
Marvin urged with a worried shout, “Move, fast!”
Hathaway and Minsk also looked troubled as they rushed over.
But at that time, a burst of pain came from Marvin’s sole!
“No good!”
He realized that the ability was already losing effectiveness over the Wilderness God!
Immense amounts of Divine Power rushed out from underneath, burning like lava. It penetrated Marvin’s foot like a sharp, metal spear!
His foot instantly jerked back from the pain.
Just as it was revealed, a badly mangled shadow charged out at Molly!
“Hand her over to me!” The Wilderness God’s voice sounded like teeth grinding together, giving off an uncomfortable feeling.
“No way!”
Marvin dismissed the effects of Ruler’s Wrath!
Night Boundary!
His body appeared in front of Molly.
He could see that after all the damage that had been done the Wilderness God was already an arrow at the end of its flight. She had no power left.
As long as he could keep delaying for a bit longer, Faniya would return and the Wilderness God would surely be sealed away once more!
Thinking of this, he could only brace himself to face her.
He couldn’t retreat, because behind him were Griffin’s body and his young charge, Molly.
[Shapeshift Sorcerer – Diamond Shape]!
Marvin was really going all-out this time!
For 8 seconds, he would be able to ignore pain and all negative debuffs. Unbreakable Diamond’s effects combined with his Domains’ bonuses would be enough to fight with the weakened Wilderness God for the duration!
In the first second, the Wilderness God rushed up and hugged Marvin, before countless barbs sprouted from her body and stabbed at Marvin.
But this was Unbreakable Diamond, which was comparable to the mighty [Earthen Fort]!
Marvin was safe and sound despite being in the Wilderness God’s deadly embrace.
The Wilderness God was utterly discomfited at this and couldn’t understand how Marvin suddenly turned from a Ranger into a meat shield…
At the fifth second, the Wilderness God used a spell, shackling Marvin’s feet.
She then turned into a thin stream of blood and flew past Marvin!
“Molly, run!” Marvin shouted. He had already done all he could.
The Wilderness God was acting insane and began ignoring the injuries being sustained, only thinking about grabbing Molly!
They definitely couldn’t let that happen.
But reality was too cruel. If the Wilderness God had fought them properly, and Marvin was able to join hands with Hathaway, they might have be able to delay longer. But she was now using all kind of unscrupulous means, all kinds of spells, constantly using false avatars, to the point that even Hathaway couldn’t tell the difference between the avatars and her real body!
Minsk went all-out trying to protect Molly and let her escape, but a few roots came from underground and coiled around his waist!
Molly could only flee stumblingly by herself.
But she was still running toward Griffin’s corpse. In her mind, Griffin would forever protect her.
Then, that sinister, graceful figure suddenly appeared before Griffin’s body.
She and Molly were not far from each other.
“Hehe… Poor little thing.”
She licked her lips.
“I can sense your fear, and the delicious curse on your body…”
“Who are you? What kind of person can have such a treasure?”
Her eyes were shining, as if she was staring at a sumptuous meal!
“Come over quickly, poor thing.”
Her voice was dripping with temptation.
“No!” Marvin loudly shouted!
Hathaway’s expression was also quite unsightly.
The three of them had been hindered by the Wilderness God in three different ways.
There was simply no way for them to stop the Wilderness God from devouring Molly!
Marvin clenched his fists, looking at his interface repeatedly, but the restricting spell would last for at least ten more seconds!
For those ten seconds, he simply couldn’t budge!
That time was enough for the Wilderness God to eat Molly quite a few times!
If she was in the mood, she even had extra time to add some seasoning!
Molly, who seemed quite addled, slowly walked toward the Wilderness God.
‘Miss Silvermoon’ displayed an insatiably hungry smile and she even couldn’t help drooling.
“Drip! Drip!”
The girl raised her cheek, and droplets fell on them.
As if those curse marks had met something harmful to them, they started to fade.
Miss Silvermoon’s mouth suddenly enlarged by ten times!
She was like a wild beast, suddenly biting down!
Minsk couldn’t bear to watch and closed his eyes!
Marvin was staring fixedly in anger!
If Molly was eaten by the Wilderness God, he swore that he would definitely find a way to kill the latter for good!
He was rarely ever this angry.
He opened his eyes wide, looking at the whole scene and burning it into his memory.
“Gulp!”
The Wilderness God swallowed Molly whole!
Her belly instantly became engorged!
“Hehe… With such a good treasure, I’ll definitely recover my former power once I finish absorbing it!”
She glanced maliciously at everyone present.
They had already broken away from their bindings.
But it was too late.
Marvin was firmly clenching his fist, his forehead full of sweat. He wasn’t able to protect Molly in the end!
“I’ll kill you,” he firmly swore.
“Kill me?… Hahahahaha…” The Wilderness God laughed exaggeratedly.
She was about to say something when she suddenly found out that her abdomen kept expanding!
“What’s happening?”
The Wilderness God was panicking?!
Her innate ability allowed her to swallow everything and absorb its energy. That small girl had an incredible treasure on her, so the Wilderness God should have been able to recover about two-thirds of her strength by consuming it.
Thus, she ate the girl, regardless of the cost.
But now, the situation started to slip out of her control!
Her abdomen was swelling, becoming bigger and bigger!
Everyone stared in shock as she unexpectedly leaned back dangerously before falling supine on the ground!
‘What is that guy planning!?’
Marvin remained vigilant.
But Lady Silvermoon’s abdomen still kept expanding!
This strange situation left everyone at loss.
“Aaah…!”
The Wilderness God let out a sharp, painful howl!
This howl sounded even more agonizing than the one released when Moon Goddess Faniya had restrained the Wilderness God!
Her body suddenly floated into the air, rolling in place a few times before falling back to the ground.
No one knew if it was a coincidence, but the place where she landed was surprisingly right in front of Griffin’s corpse.
He was still in his half-kneeling position.
Marvin seemed to feel something.
“Don’t go over there!”
He stopped Minsk and Hathaway from moving.
A burning pain spread through his hand, continuously worsening.
He absent-mindedly saw a faint shadow.
That shadow stepped out from the endless darkness, carrying a large sword.
The vision gradually felt more and more real.
Time seemed to come to a standstill.
A scene slowly unfolded before their eyes.
…
– Cold winter.
At the corner of a street, a little girl was shivering. The shadow of a tall man strode before her.
As the girl stared with her eyes almost comically wide, he took her hand and brought her away from the cold and hunger.
– Dream Shrine Oath Ritual.
Standing in the crowd, he pulled her hand, looking at those Guardians swearing their oaths to the shrine.
She softly asked him, “Can you protect me? Like they promised to protect their shrine.”
He gently laughed and half-knelt on the ground, kissing the back of her hand.
He made the oath that he would protect this poor, cursed girl for life.
– Under the starry sky.
The two were sitting on a roof.
She asked in curiosity, “Uncle Griffin, what is the Truth?”
He was silent for a moment before gently answering, “It is my belief.”
She didn’t understand that meaning, and kept asking.
He shook his head with a smile but didn’t say anything more.
– In front of a spatial crack.
He turned toward her and asked, “Ready?”
“Our world doesn’t have the means to resolve your curse. We can only try other places.”
“This place is fraught with danger.”
She laughed, “Regardless of how dangerous, you’re here to protect me, aren’t you?”
– Crimson Wasteland…
– Endless Snow Mountain Range…
– Wilderness Hall…
It was like a short movie. These events seemed to all be playing out right in front of them!
The last scene was the fall of the Paladin, and the shadow coming from the darkness also arrived there!
Marvin couldn’t see the shadow’s face, but he could clearly see that it was calmly “entering” Griffin’s body.
Then, the petrified corpse slowly recovered.
He stared at the Wilderness God’s abdomen!
The latter was filled with fear.
This was unimaginable for the Wilderness God.
There was something in this Universe that he was unable to swallow?
What felt even stranger was that something about the resurrected corpse made her feel afraid.
“Griffin?” Marvin asked tentatively.
The latter didn’t answer. Instead, he raised his large sword in the sky and slashed down ruthlessly!
A bright light flashed past!
As the Wilderness God let out mournful sounds, a crack appeared on her expanding abdomen!
The young girl crawled out from the abdomen, completely intact.
She was covered in filth, but her eyes were shining.
She looked around, and her eyes finally landed on the silent form of Griffin. She gushed with a sweet smile, “I knew you would protect me.”
The Paladin remained silent.
The Wilderness God yelled in fright, “Who the hell are you?”
The little girl turned, the curse on her body disappearing.
It was replaced by an immense Holy Power!
She looked down at the almost collapsed Wilderness God and softly said, “I am…”
“The Truth.”
When these words came out of Molly’s mouth, every being in the Universe felt an indescribable throbbing!
The Astral Sea, the Nine Hells, the bottomless Abyss, the Evil Spirit Sea.
Feinan, and the Secondary Planes.
All powerful lifeforms looked upon that scene:
In the boundless darkness, a golden light gradually brightened.
A simple scale was now in front of their eyes.
This scale was pure gold, with some complicated runes carved on it. It rose up, flying toward a distant world!
They all turned their gazes to focus on that world.
The Crimson Wasteland!
…
In the Regis Ruins, Marvin and the others were also watching that scene in a daze.
The Truth Scale flew over and hovered above Molly’s head.
As everyone knew, the Truth Scale was the personal Artifact of the Goddess of Truth. She was the only one in the entire Universe that could completely control the actual Truth Scale.
Under the suppression of the golden light, the Wilderness God, who was still inside Miss Silvermoon’s body, was endlessly howling in grief.
“You are back…” a gentle voice echoed.
Faniya had just concluded her confrontation with the Sovereign of the Underworld and returned to the Regis Ruins.
After glancing over everything in a split second, she immediately understood what had happened.
Molly had a terrifying force in her body, there was no doubt about it. But because of the power of that curse, even Faniya hadn’t been able to discover her true identity!
“Goddess of Truth… Resurrected!” Minsk mumbled.
The Truth Godhood had been vacant from time immemorial. Because the Goddess of Truth had fallen so incredibly long ago, some people had wondered whether she had actually even existed in the 1st era. And among the fragments of Fate Tablets from the 3rd Era, there was also a fragment of Truth. That fragment of Truth was in the hands of the Wood Elves. Marvin had seen Ivan use it before.
At that time, he had thought that the Truth Goddess was dead for good and couldn’t be resurrected in any form.
He hadn’t expected that she truly would return, and furthermore, with such an unconventional appearance.
At this moment, Molly was very different from before.
Her external appearance didn’t change. She still looked like a little girl, but she was carrying a unique feeling of dignity.
She looked at Faniya and told her, “I was almost unable to return.”
Faniya sensitively asked, “That curse?”
Molly’s expression was a bit strange as she pointed at the Wilderness God. “It was eaten by him…”
She revealed a smile as she added, “I know that there are some people that want to harm me, but I never expected that they would be able to afflict me with a curse that would cause my own power to keep injuring me.”
“For so many years, I had to keep suppressing my power. Isn’t that ironic?”
“I lived as an ignorant mortal, dying countless times and then resurrecting countless times, spending each day in pain.”
“I really hadn’t thought that there could be such a way to break the curse…”
The Wilderness God openly stared in shock, with a look full of pain.
All the others listened in a daze.
The Truth Goddess’s reincarnation had originally been planned out.
In Feinan, the concept of Gods reincarnating only consisted of rumors. Most people considered the idea to be preposterous. However, Marvin knew that there were some powerful beings with various ways to keep being reincarnated.
In the first Wild War, the Goddess of Truth received injuries that couldn’t be healed, so she chose this method to recover her own power.
But she didn’t expect that in the process, she would be schemed against by another powerful existence.
That curse had been suppressing her from ancient times till now.
If nothing special had happened to break it, she would have quietly died in a corner of the Universe again and again.
After thinking of how powerful the one that cursed the Goddess of Truth must have been, Marvin felt a chill.
Even the Truth Goddess’s reincarnation was unable to break the curse. Such power…
But something unexpected happened in this life.
The appearance of Griffin, this Paladin who always believed in the Truth. He nurtured her and eased her suffering. He protected her and took her from the Secondary Plane she was born in to the Crimson Wasteland.
But in fact, if there had been no Wilderness God, she would still have died from the curse and continued reincarnating.
This was an awful fate.
But the Wilderness God’s unique ability accidentally helped Molly.
The Wilderness God swallowed her whole. And to devour the power of the Goddess of Truth, the curse that was binding her had to be consumed first.
Who was the Wilderness God?
In the entire Universe, there was nothing that he didn’t dare to or wasn’t able to swallow!
Just a fierce curse? He directly ate it!
After the energy from the curse was drained away, the Truth Goddess’ Divine Source was stimulated!
In the era when the might of the Truth Goddess could be felt across the Universe, the Wilderness God was still a small vine in the wild!
With the curse removed, she understood everything that had come to pass.
Her Guardian, Griffin, was resurrected by her Rebirth spell and then he freed her from the Wilderness God’s body!
Marvin sighed at the serendipity of it all. It really was a wonder for these matters to be linked together like that.
The re-emergence of the Truth Goddess would have a huge impact on the whole Universe!
Each of the Gods attacking the Universe Magic Pool cast their sight over, one after the other!
That Ancient God wasn’t good-natured like Faniya and some of the others.
In the very sparse records that had mention of her, the Truth Goddess was described as a very ruthless and domineering Goddess.
Her resurrection meant that the God Realms might undergo a cleansing!
The situation in the world would become ever more complicated.
But for Marvin, it was definitely good news for the Goddess of Truth to be resurrected instead of the Wilderness God.
The Ancient Gods and the New Gods were two totally different types of beings.
Although there might not inherently be an antagonistic relationship between them, to the New Gods, her return was clearly not good news.
She was someone that could create trouble for his enemies. Marvin was quite delighted. The more, the better!
…
“So many people looking… Time to disappoint them,” Molly laughed.
A bright halo burst from the Truth Scale that was hovering above her head.
Though the halo was bright, in the eyes of the other powerful existences, the place was plunged into darkness.
But before losing their sight of the area, they more or less were able to see the situation in the Regis Ruins.
They were undoubtedly most dazzled by the Truth Goddess.
It was a fact that the Truth Scale was too conspicuous. As one of the most powerful Artifacts in the Universe, it automatically garnered a great amount of attention.
And then there was the Moon Goddess, Faniya.
Two Great Ancient Gods appearing in the same place together. What did it mean?
Could it be that the Ancient Gods, who had been silent for so long, were about to step back onto the stage?
Many people sank into contemplation.
Even the Gods who had been attacking the Universe Magic Pool were making conjectures.
And the third person who had been noticed there wasn’t any of the other powerhouses. Rather, it was Marvin.
“It’s that guy again!” A Low God just outside the Universe Magic Pool couldn’t help but wonder aloud, “Why is there a trace of him at every major event?”
The three Great Gods also had expressions of surprise.
As for Grant, the God of Dawn and Protection, he was shaking his head gravely.
He knew more about Marvin than the other Gods there did!
When Dragon God Hartson was trying to get his Divine Source back, that kid had also been in the Nightmare Boundary.
But at that time, Grant had been too busy facing Hartson and couldn’t pay attention to him.
First was the destruction of the Evil Spirit World and the death of the Evil Spirit Overlord Diggles. Following that was the slaying of a God. The pitiful Dark Phoenix was killed who knows how many times by Marvin before miserably reaching her end. At the beginning of the Great Calamity, he was also the first one to stand out and ignite the Source of Fire’s Order. He established the White River Valley Sanctuary, which was one of the most powerful ones, drawing much attention from the Gods.
Now, he appeared at the same place as the two Ancient Gods in the Crimson Wasteland.
And he seemed to be pretty close with the newly born God of Truth.
This made Marvin seem very suspicious!
Was this guy really just an ordinary Human?
Many Gods were wondering to themselves.
…
In the Regis Ruins, the atmosphere relaxed somewhat after the gazes of the onlookers were blocked.
With the Truth Goddess’ help, Faniya forced the Wilderness God out of Miss Silvermoon’s body.
She had originally planned to seal the Wilderness God away once more. After all, she still hadn’t found a way to completely kill the Wilderness God… but it was different now.
The Truth Goddess had come from an even earlier time than Faniya. The Truth Scale was dreaded because it was an Artifact with the ability to kill a God!
Let alone a weakened Wilderness God, even if he was at his peak, before the might of the Truth Scale, he could only face inevitable defeat!
The process of killing the Wilderness God seemed extremely simple. Scoured by the bursting golden light, the last droplet of crimson blood completely evaporated. Every single trace of the Wilderness God was wiped out. That God didn’t exist in the Universe anymore.
After dealing with that problem, they all sighed in relief.
Faniya looked at the unconscious Miss Silvermoon with a complicated expression.
The Truth Goddess shook her head and slowly walked toward Marvin.
“Molly… Eh… I think… I don’t know how I should address you now…” Marvin stuttered awkwardly.
He had yet to come to terms with her change of identity.
Molly gave him a brilliant smile. “Calling me Molly is fine.”
“This is my name. The resurrection process of Ancient Gods is far more complex than you can imagine. Goddess of Truth refers to my status, not my name.”
Marvin nodded.
He didn’t sense any sort of crushing power emanating from Molly’s body. But Hathaway and Minsk were a bit different. They seemed to be greatly affected, forced to keep exerting their power to resist the pressure.
“Do you wish to become my Guardian?” Molly asked pleasantly.
“This time, it is official.”
Marvin froze.
Just as she finished asking the question, the imprint in his palm started burning.
He thought it was an illusion before, but he now noticed a miniature Truth Scale!
He knew of the immense power of the Truth Goddess. If she recovered, it wouldn’t be possible to estimate her power based on the current Gods.
If he became her Guardian, most of the Gods and Devils in the entire universe wouldn’t dare to provoke him.
This was a great temptation.
But he still shook his head, declining Molly’s invitation.
His answer was simple.
“I only protect those who need my protection.”
“I am someone without faith. Truth is very valuable, but I’m sorry, I don’t have the ability to believe unconditionally in one thing.”
This kind of answer didn’t seem to surprise Molly.
She nodded and smiled sweetly. “If this is your answer, then it’s fine.”
“I’m very thankful for your protection when I was at my weakest. Griffin is my Paladin, so he was naturally drawn to me. But for you to be able to forge a connection, I am very surprised.”
“In any case, if you need my help, you know how to find me.”
She winked playfully at him.
The Truth Scale on Marvin’s hand disappeared without a trace.
Marvin thought about her words.
“You are leaving?”
He looked at Molly and Griffin.
Molly nodded, explaining, “I already left this world for too long, so I don’t know what it is like now…”
“I’ll go look for some people…”
“There are some places I want to see too… Anyways, I believe we will meet again one day.”
Her voice became softer, as the Truth Scale’s radiance gradually dwindled. The two of them turned illusory under the light and disappeared from this place.
At the last moment, Marvin noticed Griffin nodding at him.
This righteous Paladin was able to be reborn. Marvin was quite happy about that.
What changes would that Goddess and retainer bring upon this chaotic world?
Marvin was very curious.
It had to be known that in the game, there hadn’t been anything about the resurrection of the Truth Goddess.
…
“They left. We should go too,” Minsk suggested gently.
He originally came here to stop the Wilderness God from being resurrected.
Not only did he see the demise of the Wilderness God, but he also witnessed the resurrection of the Goddess of Truth. This really was quite a wonder.
“Please do not divulge anything that happened here,” Faniya softly entreated. “The return of the Goddess of Truth will inevitably create huge waves. No one will pay any mind to the rest. I hope you can keep what happened here a secret.”
Marvin and Minsk nodded.
Hathaway threw the Cold Light’s Grasps over.
The Moon Goddess used her Divine Power, and after a moment, she removed the Night Flower from the daggers.
The Night Flower entered the Ethereal Jar and finally, Hathaway had obtained the final piece of the Heim Scepter.
Marvin’s heart stirred as he released Isabelle from the Origami space.
She was unable to move after being bound by Bandel’s Witchcraft, but after obtaining the Night Flower, removing that curse was obviously very easy.
Isabelle regained her freedom.
Marvin didn’t stop there and also released the Winter Assassin.
After all, that guy had been attacked unjustly back in the day. Hathaway was unusually easy to convince this time, and she used the flower to remove the curse from the Winter Assassin.
He turned into a middle-aged Assassin from a funny Wisp.
“Fuck! After so many years… This Great Assassin finally returned to normal.” The Winter Assassin was very moved.
Isabelle glanced at him, but she didn’t say anything. The Winter Assassin really had suffered a lot. No one knew how many years he had spent in the darkness.
A lesser person might have already gone insane. Being able to survive was already proof of his tough will.
“These used to be your weapons. I’ll return them to you now.”
Faniya waved her hand and the Cold Light’s Grasps flew toward the Winter Assassin.
Marvin froze in confusion. He pointed at the weakly breathing Miss Silvermoon and asked, “What about her?”
The Moon Goddess exposed a bitter smile and muttered, “She doesn’t need that thing.”
“No Gods can be reborn after truly dying. Bandel’s obsession affected my judgement, and this nearly created a disaster.”
“Although her soul has already gathered, it won’t last too long… At most… Another fifteen minutes.”
They all remained silent.
Some matters truly couldn’t be changed.
It seemed that even the most powerful Gods couldn’t completely breach the barrier between Life and Death.
“Luna…”
“Lunaaa…”
A weak voice rose up from a corner.
It was a weak soul fire, almost extinguished. But it was struggling to float over to reach Miss Silvermoon’s side.
Miss Silvermoon slowly opened her eyes.
“Let’s give them some time.”
Marvin and the others tactfully left.
…
Holy Light City, on the southern hills.
“It’s time to return to Feinan.”
Marvin looked at the snowy mountain in the distance.
He had only spent eight days in the Crimson Wasteland, but to the people of Feinan, only half a day had passed.
This kind of time flow made him want to spend more time here.
But the appearance of the Dream Guardians alarmed him.
This was the Crimson Wasteland, not Feinan. It wasn’t safe. It was still very dangerous for Marvin to encounter peak Divine Servants. And he had many enemies in the Universe. After the shock caused by the Truth Goddess’ return, the subordinates of Dragon God Hartson and Demon Lord Balkh might already be rushing over.
In any case, he found Minsk, so might as well play it safe and return early.
Before leaving, he asked Hathaway to take the Dungeon Core in the Regis Ruins.
Anzed Witches had all kinds of magical methods, and she peeled the huge Dungeon Core from the Regis Ruins and put it in a white jar.
This jar wasn’t as special as the Ethereal Jar, not having much Magic Power by itself, but it was very good for storing things.
Marvin roughly estimated that the interior of that thing was comparable to a Demi-Plane.
Hathaway was quite generous, so Marvin naturally wouldn’t be stingy in return.
Before parting, he gifted her the Magic Eye that he gained from Balkh.
The Magic Eye was a treasure tailored for Witches. He believed that it would definitely shine in the hands of the Witch Queen.
Hathaway also didn’t refuse. The two had a tacit understanding.
They wouldn’t mention the matters of the past.
They knew that it was different now. Marvin was the Overlord of White River Valley, and was someone valued by the Goddess of Truth. As for Hathaway, she was the Queen of Ashes, the hope of the Anzeds’ future.
Each of them had their own path, and maybe one day they would have the chance to walk it together.
But they would have to face many difficulties before that could come to pass. They would mostly have to face them alone.
Hathaway left easily. She had the ability to pass through space, so she vanished in front of everyone.
It wasn’t as simple for the others.
They needed a Teleportation Door. Fortunately, the Migratory Bird Council had already foreseen this and had prepared a tool for Marvin which contained a fixed planar Teleportation Array.
After the Winter Assassin regained his freedom, he said that he should experience this world properly.
He threw the Cold Light’s Grasps to his disciple, patted her back and left leisurely.
Isabelle was reluctant to part with him, but after hesitating for a bit, she still decided to return to Feinan with Marvin.
She knew that her teacher had his own matters to attend to.
As for her, it was time to fulfill the oath she silently took before.
Building the Teleportation Array went pretty quickly.
Minsk, as the son of the Nature God, was quite knowledgeable in all kinds of fields, especially magic, arrays and other similar subjects.
After thirty minutes, the planar lighthouse was ignited.
In the distant Feinan, Old Ent, who had been waiting calmly in front of the entrance, immediately ordered, “Get them back!”
…
To Marvin, it felt like he had left Feinan for a long time.
In fact, he had left Feinan from Jade City at midnight.
But when he saw Old Ent’s face again, it was only the next morning.
Originally, he planned to stay for two weeks, so he had sent a letter to White River Valley.
He hadn’t expected to complete his mission so efficiently.
As for the thrilling experience, it had also struck him with fear many times.
He had met who knew how many dangers after spending just a few days in the Crimson Wasteland.
This was something unimaginable in Feinan.
This made him realize once more that his strength was far from enough!
He still wasn’t ready to face the Gods!
And right now, outside the Universe Magic Pool, countless New Gods were covetously eyeing him and White River Valley.
He had to keep getting stronger!
…
Marvin also gained a lot from this trip to the Crimson Wasteland.
Besides the two Origin Leaves he received from the previous agreement with the Migratory Bird Council, as well as the secret book about achieving a breakthrough in the Human body, his own strength also greatly improved.
His Ruler of the Night class levelled up, his advanced Divine Vessel activated successfully, and he also obtained an Oddity that could turn him into a Great Druid.
And most importantly, he found Isabelle.
Isabelle, who wasn’t a little girl anymore, had turned into a very frightening Assassin.
She had made it clear that she would keep following Marvin in the coming days.
This was a great news for both Marvin and White River Valley.
…
Marvin side was happy to have completed the mission, but the Migratory Bird Council was embarrassed.
They really found Minsk, but the Nature God’s son was unable to contact the Nature God either.
The World Tree was still withering.
And there was no answer from the people they had sent to the Green Sea Paradise. Old Ent was quite worried.
They prepared a second team led by Minsk to go to the Green Sea Paradise.
Old Ent originally thought of asking Marvin for help again, but this time Marvin declined.
Before his strength was sufficient to face more Gods, he wouldn’t leave Feinan again.
He didn’t want to experience that feeling of powerlessness that he went through in the Wilderness Hall once again.
Old Ent could only disappointedly watch Marvin and Isabelle leave.
“Milord, where are we going next?”
On the way out of Jade City, Isabelle finally broke her silence and asked a question.
Marvin smiled and pointed toward the southwest. “Lavis.”
“That is my grandfather’s homeland…”
