Mystery: The Undead Don't Die from Linking the Fire

Bayam, the "City of Generosity" in the Rothschild Islands.

At the top of the bell tower of the Wave Church, Archbishop Alger of the Storm Church stared at the terrifying giant faces in the sky that were frantically crashing against the invisible barrier. Amidst his fear, he also felt a strange excitement.

"That's the Outer God?"

He had already learned from the Tarot Club that there were beings beyond the stars who coveted this world, but he did not know what kind of beings they were. He could only vaguely guess that they were at least at the level of gods, and that there were quite a few of them.

And any understanding of these beings, even just knowing their names, will be corrupted!

But now, he is looking directly at the gods!

The more frantic the Outer Gods became, the more excited Alger became!

Because he could directly sense the Outer Gods' 'fear,' they had been waiting for the day the barrier would crumble, waiting for the day they would invade the world. For them, that day would be a day of celebration, but for all living beings in the world, it would be the end of the world!

Everyone will be corrupted by the Outer God and ruthlessly slaughtered by him; even the gods are not immune.

But now, the world has changed dramatically!

That invisible flame spread throughout the world, changing the world while also reinforcing the barriers.

It was precisely because the barrier was strengthened that the Outer Gods, who had initially seen hope, went mad. They attempted to violently break through the barrier, thus invading the world prematurely. Because once a new barrier was formed, they would no longer be able to carry out their long-desired invasion!

They will be isolated from the world, and even the pollution will be purified by the flames, becoming harmless!

That's why Alger was so excited!

Although he was just an ordinary demigod, he still experienced the pleasure of teasing the gods!

After all, regardless of the circumstances, as a member of the Tarot Society, he has contributed to the spread of the First Flame. In other words, he is partly responsible for the current situation; he is also one of the instigators!

Although his role was not indispensable, and his contribution was negligible.

But so what?

Regardless of the magnitude of his contribution, just tell me whether he made any or not!

-

Derrick, the "Sun," also saw the terrifying existence beyond the stars, and he instinctively felt fear.

But this fear did not break him; instead, it strengthened his will and made his faith even more devout.

"Praise the 'Fool'," Derrick murmured.

In his eyes, it must have been Mr. Fool who protected the world from those beings—and of course, Mr. Lover, even though Mr. Lover never asked for faith or revealed his own name to them.

But in Derrick's eyes, Mr. Lover is a god equivalent to Mr. Fool.

Other churches have only one God, but the Fool's Church has two!

What an honor!

"No!"

Within the astral plane, accompanied by the gods' unwilling roars, the faint light was ultimately utterly shattered by the combined forces of Order, Fool, and Life, leaving only a few wispy orbs of light—the extraordinary characteristics and uniqueness of the 'Hermit' and 'Perfect' pathways.

As soon as these extraordinary characteristics are revealed, they immediately vanish into the void.

But before that, the power of order kept them firmly in place.

With a wave of his hand, Roselle snatched all these extraordinary properties before Klein and the Earth Mother could.

"Cough cough."

Under the watchful eyes of the other two true gods, even Roselle, with his thick skin, couldn't help but blush and cough twice, saying:

"Give me the things, and I'll owe you a favor."

"Consider it a gift for your niece. You don't mind, do you?"

"I have no objection." Klein shrugged. In any case, he wouldn't use the extraordinary characteristics of these two paths anyway. And there were only three or five angels who could use them. Rather than letting those unfamiliar angels obtain these extraordinary characteristics to advance to Sequence 0, it would be better to let his niece take over.

The Earth Mother Goddess was even more direct, joining the battle against the Primordial Witch without even glancing at her.

Russell, having received the benefits, couldn't just stand by and do nothing, so he joined in as well.

"I'm sorry to have troubled you, Storm Pigeon."

Klein glanced at the Storm Lord, who was struggling against the attack of the Undying Serpent in the distance, and silently joined the ranks of those fighting against the Primordial Witch.

The addition of the three of them immediately transformed the originally fair 2 against 1 into a just 5 against 1.

Or rather, it's 5.5 against 1.

After all, the Primordial Witch was still under Medici's influence. Although Medici wasn't a complete fighting force, he still had some use. At least it was because of his delay that the Primordial Witch couldn't escape in time and was trapped here.

Facing five true gods, three of whom were dual-path true gods, Klein really didn't know how the Primordial Witch could win!

However, despite the favorable situation, Klein was still somewhat puzzled—the Lord of Steam and the Primordial Witch didn't run away because they couldn't, but why didn't Lakad run away either?

If He wanted to run, the Lord of Storms couldn't stop Him, nor did He have the motivation to do so.

After all, the reason the Lord of Storms helped Klein was because Adam and the others posed a greater threat to Him. He didn't want Amon to become "mysterious," nor did He want Adam's strength to increase, so He had no choice but to take action.

But after Klein became the "Fool," his mindset actually changed.

He actually hoped that Adam and the others could escape safely, because it would be most advantageous for the Lord of Storms if both sides were evenly matched. The complete annihilation of either side would not be in the Lord of Storms' interest.

After all, although Adam coveted His extraordinary qualities, the two were destined to be unable to coexist peacefully. But let us not forget that the God of Knowledge and Wisdom was also on an adjacent path, and they, too, could not coexist peacefully.

In this situation, Karad had countless opportunities to escape the battlefield, but instead of doing so, he went even further and launched a frenzied attack on the Lord of Storms—it seemed that there was nothing else in his eyes but the most primal greed and desire!

The issue now is not whether the Lord of Storms wants to release water, but rather that He dares not release water.

If He dares to let things slide, He will be the one to die!

"Hahahaha, give up! Cheek! You can't win!"

"Do you really think you can escape? Even if my Lord himself were here, he would hardly escape from such a force, and you will be no exception!"

"If you can take control of the City of Calamity, perhaps you really will have a chance."

"But unfortunately, you came in such a hurry that you didn't have time to prepare."

"No, no, no! Even if I give you time to prepare, it's useless. With your talent, it will take you at least several years to take control of the City of Calamity."

"By then, the end of the world will have already come, and you will have no chance of survival!"

"If you give up now, the three of us might be able to save a quarter of the space for you, and the four of us can get along well!"

"impossible!"

The Primordial Witch gritted her teeth and rejected Medici's offer, ignoring the latter's frantic mockery in her mind. She said in a deep voice:

"Spare me, and I'll never fight you again! I'm willing to help you hunt Adam!"

The Goddess of Night ignored this and continued to use her secrets to make the Primordial Witch's tentacles 'disappear', closing in step by step!

In the mind of the Primordial Witch, Medici's mockery grew even louder.

"Don't you understand? He's just using you as offerings for flattery!"

"Hahaha! This must be Adam's plan too. He deliberately prevented you from being in peak condition for the battle. His goal was to lure you into an encirclement, trap you all, and let Him gain even greater benefits!"

"Just like I used to be, we are all victims!"

"No! Not only that! Adam himself was a victim! From then on, there was no more Adam in the world, only my Lord!"

"You want to unite them against Adam? Against a person who didn't exist? How naive can you be!"

How come I never realized you were so stupid before?

"Shut up!"

The Primal Witch roared inwardly, but the next second her thoughts suddenly froze, and she could hardly think.

Who am I? Where am I? What am I supposed to do?

Questions flashed through His mind, and for a moment He even forgot how to defend Him.

When she finally realized that this was the authority of the "Fool," it was all over; her mind was completely extinguished by the siege of the gods.

Now, only that immortal serpent remains.

-

Within the furnace, Ember's calm voice rang in the ears of the wounded Lord of Cinder:

"I told you, you can't win."

"You lost to me before, and this time will be no exception!"

The Lord of Cinder remained silent, gazing at the man opposite him.

Ember was also covered in wounds; one could say that he had just as many scars as the Lord of Cinder.

However, this did not negate the vast difference in their auras—when the Lord of Steam and the Primordial Witch fell one after another, the Lord of Cinder's avatar was already severely lacking in confidence. But unfortunately, this was not enough to make Him give up the struggle!

The Lord of Cinder, in his avatar, raised his sword once more and silently launched an attack on the Ember.

Suddenly, an aged voice resounded in his mind:

"Surprised?"

The Lord of Cinder's pupils contracted sharply as He suddenly lost some control over His body.

It's Gwyn!

Gwyn, the Lord of Cinder!

"Are you crazy?!"

The avatar of the Lord of Cinder, who had been silent all along, finally lost his temper and roared in his heart, "If I die, you will die too!"

Within the furnace conjured by the King of Cinder's spiritual realm, the old man spoke calmly:

"Is there a difference? Being enslaved by you or being enslaved by him makes no difference to me."

"And if I could die here, it wouldn't be a bad thing for me."

"I've struggled for too long, all I want is peace."

"Everything you have is given to you by me, how dare you defy me?!"

Countless voices surged from all directions, and countless vicious faces stared intently at the old man standing in the furnace.

They are all Lords of Cinder, or rather, they are the embodiment of Lords of Cinder!

Over countless ages, the Lords of Cinder who threw themselves into the furnace eventually merged and transformed into this single embodiment of the Lord of Cinder. He is both the embodiment of the First Flame and the collective form of all these Lords of Cinder!

"traitor!"

"Gwyn! You deserve to die!"

"You killed us, and now you want to kill us a second time?!"

"Kill him! Kill him!"

Gwyn heard countless vicious curses and insults coming from all around him, but his expression remained calm:

Even today, I don't think I was wrong.

"Passing the fire is essential."

"Even though I know it's not for the whole world, but only for the continuation of the gods' rule."

"No one can easily give up everything they've gained; no one can."

"I can't, and neither can you."

"Otherwise, why would you be here?"

"But now, it's time to end all of this!"

"Or do you prefer to remain enslaved by the First Flame rather than be freed?"

Gwyn gave a low growl, and flames roared around him. In that moment, he seemed to become once again the ambitious and spirited Sun King! But this time, everything he did was for liberation!

The long-planned flames were so fierce that they covered the entire body in the blink of an eye!

At this moment, Gwyn, the Lord of Cinder, successfully suppressed everything else!

The power he has accumulated over the years is not much, perhaps not even one percent of the full strength.

But at this moment, that one percent of power was enough to change the situation!

Even if it's just for a fleeting moment!

puff!

The spiral sword pierced the body of the Lord of Cinder from behind.

No blood flowed out, no flesh was pulled out, nothing at all.

"Kid."

Gwyn turned to look at Ember and said in a deep voice, "Be nicer to my daughter."

He owes them so much.

Ember asked in confusion:

Which one?

"..." Gwyn, the Lord of Cinder, suddenly realized that he didn't seem to crave liberation as much as he thought.

Ember added calmly:

"Just kidding, they're great, much better than your daughters."

Gwyn had already let it go, chuckled softly, and said nothing.

In the next instant, the Lord of Cinder collapsed into endless flames, which scattered and tried to escape.

But it was drawn into the embers by a mysterious attraction, eventually merging with them—

When only one person remains to make the choice, everything will eventually be unified and will not be affected by external forces.

-

In the Astral Realm, Roselle, who had just finished a battle, was startled by the sudden appearance of the Embers:

"Holy crap?"

"So fast?!"

Klein also looked surprised.

Ember whispered:

"Someone helped."

"Who?"

"Gwen."

A knowing look flashed in Klein's and Rosell's eyes. Gwyn, then it's alright.

"Tsk."

Roselle suddenly clicked his tongue, because if he remembered correctly, the Ember should have also abducted Gwyn's three daughters—Priscilla, Yorshka, and Felenenor—and now his father-in-law had sacrificed his life to help the Ember achieve final victory.

Where else can you find such a good deal?!

Klein glanced at the resurrected immortal serpent in the distance and said in a relaxed tone:

"Now that you're back, it's time to end everything."

"That's right, it's all over."

The embers responded calmly, their flames surging and engulfing the undead serpent, covering the entire world and spreading towards the starry sky.

The outer gods who had been fiercely attacking the barrier suddenly changed their expressions and fled in panic into the depths of space.

But the moon remained stationary—

The blue moon was proactive, while the red moon was passive; it was held back by the blue moon.

But whether you escape or not, it doesn't really make a difference.

The flames will eventually engulf the universe; no one can avoid it, it's just a matter of time. (End of Chapter)