609 The Old Gods Are Dying (1/2)

At the highest point of Avalon, a mighty melody rose from beneath the ground.

It was Leviathan.

The deceased soul buried deep under the soil and rocks woke up from its long slumber. The demised catastrophe was singing, the husky and cold tune latching onto the melody. Like flesh and blood growing on a skeleton, it gradually filled out, outlining the embryonic form of the catastrophe.

The alchemy array hidden deeply beneath the entire territory was awakened.

The path of godly ascension was reopened once more.

Forcibly controlled by the stone sword, the two halves of the path of godly ascension, which had been split, attracted each other forcefully and gradually came together, about to return to the original state.

The sky shook.

Countless stars dimmed and swayed. Flame-like glows fell, floating between the sea and the sky, surrounding the vast sun of darkness.

The sun gave off a horrifying radiance, but at the edge of its dark outline, a blood-colored substance gathered, then dripped, spilling down towards the mortal realm and turning into red rain.

”Come back! Come back! Come back!” Arthur laughed, ecstatic. Like a tide, the dark Firebird filled the entire palace and covered the entire sea.

In the nation in the shadows, the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth whined sorrowfully.

On the throne, Mary gritted her teeth, her face pale, and panted weakly.

After the power of the entire Avalon and the whole of the power of Leviathan were combined, they gathered to form the path of godly ascension. The power that had initially been split into two converged towards the same destination once again at the moment.

Just like the two ends of the lever, if balance couldn't be maintained, then one side must sink into the darkness and become part of the winner's resources as a stepping stone.

At the moment, through the Firebird, Mary had merged as one with the alchemy array left from the past. Once the power of the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth was completely extracted, she herself would cease to exist as well.

As the golden Firebird broke, the buildings in the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth that had just been restored also cracked gradually into gaps, and the glory was no longer.

If the domain of the scepter didn't have Genesis as its core to forcibly suppress the powers that were ready to cause trouble, Mary's powers and life forces would have probably been sucked dry by Arthur long ago.

It was like the pain of her whole person being torn apart was expanding from the inside out.

In the fiery radiance, Mary gritted her teeth, a hoarse, sorrowful whine sounding from her throat.

Countless flickering strands of music theory wove, and a fuzzy outline appeared. It seemed like a hound, but also resembled a blurred human figure. The figure reached out, gently stroking Mary's long hair.

It seemed to be comforting her softly. Fear not, I'm still here.

Mary forced out a smile, opened her mouth, and softly whispered something in reply. The vague figure seemed to sigh and looked up at the highest point of Avalon.

The starting point and focus of the path of godly ascension.

How much more does one have to pay to end the sins of the past? It thought.

...

”Who's there?” A voice sounded in the palace that had been swallowed up by the dark Firebird, at the core of Avalon.

In the throne room, Arthur, who was immersed in the path of godly ascension, suddenly opened his eyes, as if he had sensed something. The pitch black eyes looked coldly at the ground below the steps, a cold glint shining from them.

Below the steps, on the floor that had shattered in the fight, faint glows lit up within the grains of the marble, like streams of water converging along the riverbed. In the end, the dim glows gathered on the step where the subordinates would position themselves when presenting themselves before the ruler.

It was an alchemy array built into it according to the natural texture of the stone. If an alchemist was to witness it, he would surely be shocked by the ingenious conception.

Relying on the original appearance of the material, with some additional adornments, the embedded alchemy array could almost be said to have been naturally formed and had an unparalleled concealment ability. Had it not been activated in a special method, no one could possibly spot it.

Exactly because of how concealed it was, the array that could be set up was also relatively simple, and the most it could do... was just to project.

It was the projection of light and shadows that were left here in the past.

In the flickering light, a familiar looking youth walked out of it, and went down on a knee on the steps, like he was presenting himself before the ruler. As Arthur gazed at him coldly and darkly, the youth lifted his feminine, ladylike face, revealing his signature mysterious smile.

On the back of his right hand, the emblem of two snakes slowly emerged.

— Hermes.

Without the king's permission, he rose at his own discretion and looked towards the throne. He sized it up in an almost offensive manner, but the focus of his gaze was slightly off, as if he wasn't looking at Arthur, but had his gaze on somewhere empty instead.

”Oh, I see.” The youth pinched his chin and slowly nodded. ”The situation has already deteriorated to such an extent. I must say that it is one of the most troublesome situations within my expectation... Also, it's been a long time, Your Majesty.”

”Merlin?” Arthur frowned. ”It's you?”

”Ah, it's me.” Hermes nodded casually, his smile becoming more and more annoying. ”But as you can see, the 'me' at the moment is just a projection that has fixed responses preset and will select the corresponding segment to display according to the situation.