After reaching the maximum level, my "soft rice system" finally arrived.

Kieran's aged voice was interrupted before he could finish speaking.

“I understand what you mean, Mr. Kieran.”

"I can also guess your concerns."

A faint smile graced Aisveta's pretty face.

She looked at Charles not far away with her beautiful crimson eyes, her pupils gleaming.

Then, Aisveta shook her head slightly.

"But—no need."

She thus confronted the most authentic mental landscape deep within her heart, revealing her true thoughts.

The once decaying ancient city has long since melted away in the sunlight, like ice and snow.

In its place stands an eerily dark tower bathed in sunlight.

Aisveta gazed at Ciel not far away, and her melodious voice slowly rose.

"I think—compared to that decaying, thousand-year-old city, the Tower of Extreme Darkness..."

"That was my future home."

Not far away, a smile also appeared on Charles's face.

"So--"

"Welcome."

"The fifth legendary mage of our Dark Tower."

Aisveta returned a graceful smile to Sharl and continued, "In the future, I also want more vampires to enter the Black Tower to study magic and arcane arts."

"I believe that the development of arcane magic will become the mainstream of the times in the future."

"And many of my kinsmen have been languishing in that decaying ancestral land for far too long—"

"If we don't find a way to keep up with the times, we'll probably be left behind by the tide of the times very soon."

Charles couldn't help but chuckle: "Not only do you join our Black Tower as a True Ancestor, but you also want to bring your own kind along. Aren't you afraid that your vampire elders and immortals won't be happy about that?"

He had dealt with the vampires of Millennium City before, so he knew that the older generation of vampire princes and dukes were all eccentric, extremely conservative, and difficult to get along with.

"The elders would love for me to be locked up in the Thousand-Year City every day with a bunch of coffins, so of course they wouldn't be happy about it."

A barely perceptible curve appeared at the corner of Aisveta's mouth.

Only in front of Charles would this usually elegant and all-powerful vampire progenitor reveal a bit of her girlish, carefree nature.

"But none of that really matters, because—"

"Now, they can't beat me anymore..."

......

The atmosphere inside the Arcane Hall instantly became much more relaxed and cheerful.

Although due to their experiences, backgrounds, and origins, wizards each have different stances on their respective factions.

However, for the vast majority of high-ranking wizards, their pursuit of arcane magic remains the most sincere and pure.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to persevere through that long and tedious wizarding training and achieve what they have today.

The fact that the Dark Tower can give birth to a new legendary mage is undoubtedly a positive development for the arcane field. Every legendary mage is a pioneer and trailblazer in their respective arcane domain.

Even from another perspective, for many forces in the Western Continent, Aisveta's choice to join the Black Tower was good news.

After all, the Black Tower is now so powerful that it's almost unmatched, boasting five legendary figures, among whom Vimes, Charles, and Renata are no ordinary legends...

Such a lineup makes it impossible for any force to even think of resisting.

The Black Tower has never been very involved in the struggle for interests on the continent. At this time, the addition of another legend is not much, and the loss of one is not a big deal. It is much better than Aisveta returning to the vampire clan and leading the vampires to conquer the continent.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Charles also retrieved his scattered spiritual energy from outside the astral plane.

After the "Dyson Cloud" was completed and entered its orbit to begin stable operation, Shire no longer needed to invest too much mental energy in it; just a small amount was enough to maintain its daily operation.

Just then, Charles's expression suddenly paused slightly.

Immediately afterwards, a faint connection came from the astral plane. As soon as it sensed Charles's presence, it eagerly approached and was then actively received by Charles.

"What's wrong?"

Renata held up the diary, and pale gold characters appeared rapidly.

She had no interest in what was happening in the Arcane Hall at that moment, but focused all her attention on Charles.

Given the tacit understanding she had developed with Ciel through countless soul fusions, Renata quickly sensed Ciel's reaction as soon as he did.

"nothing."

Charles read the encrypted information transmitted from the astral plane and smiled.

"only--"

"There seems to be some movement coming from the pangolin's area."

......

On the outer edge of the Silver Continent, in the void between the starry sky and the earth.

Inside the majestic bronze palace, rows of enormous thrones were neatly arranged.

On those enormous bronze seats are figures, some majestic and some mysterious.

There are mountain giants that are hundreds of meters tall.

There are slender and beautiful forest elves wearing crowns.

There are also undead races shrouded in a vast black mist, exuding an aura of death.

There are also advanced elemental life forms whose facial features are indistinct and which are composed of pure elements.

Every false god, before truly embarking on the path to godhood and completing the transformation of their life form, was once a living being with flesh and blood.

After embarking on the path to godhood, due to habit and inherent self-perception, the divine bodies they condense often maintain the same racial appearance and characteristics as their former flesh and blood bodies.

Of course... for these gods whose lives are infinitely long and who have witnessed the fall of countless civilizations.

The so-called divine body is nothing more than a dispensable shell.

To expect false gods to feel empathy or pity because of their shared race is nothing short of wishful thinking.

"The war clearly invited us here—yet it has vanished without a trace. Isn't that a bit too arrogant and presumptuous..."

"Although he has gone further than us on the long path to godhood, he has not yet crossed that final step."

"Having not yet become a true god, he has already begun to claim the status of the king of gods?"

The dwarf, clad in imposing armor, uttered a furious remark.

He patted the warhammer placed on the table, and the surrounding void was filled with chaotic divine power from time to time, manifesting illusory scenes of thunderbolts crashing down and storms surging.

"Take it easy, the storm is brewing."

A faint and somber voice echoed within the bronze palace.

It was a withered figure shrouded in black mist, whose features were obscured.

The black mist surrounding Him sometimes surged, bringing with it illusions of seas of blood and withered bones.

"Even though war has not yet arrived, at this round table where the gods are conversing... who knows if there is anyone willing to lower their divine status and become an appendage of the war."

"but--"

The withered figure swept across the entire bronze table, and a cold laugh echoed from within the black mist.

"This is how they're doing things before the war has even begun."

"If they were to cross that final step—who among you present could be certain of your own safety?"

"When the war reaches its final stage, then... I think you all should have some thoughts in your hearts."

As the voice rang out from within the black mist, many beings on the bronze thrones revealed a hint of disgust.

Compared to the previously volatile God of the Ocean and Storms, the God of Death, who spoke later, was the one the gods were most unwilling to deal with.

After all, the power of the gods originates from faith, and the way the god of death harvests faith is by turning all believers into immortals.

Such a brutal method of plundering faith destined Death to be unable to coexist with the other gods, making him a special being hated by gods and demons, and no false god was willing to associate with him.

However, at the same time, many of the false gods on the bronze throne began to ponder the words that the god of death had said earlier.

There are also factions among the false gods.

While death is abhorrent, the logic behind it is not without merit...

If the god of war is truly about to take that final step, then—

Perhaps the best option is to appropriately interfere with their promotion.

For a moment, even many of the false gods who had originally sided with the war began to ponder.

"We'll discuss these matters later—"

"Although war has not yet arrived, the purpose of this council of gods is not an exaggeration."