Volume 1 Chapter 677
by post_apiChapter 677: The Kiss That Shattered the Illusion!
The transformation extended far beyond the domain of "Never-ending Night" Philtes himself.
The Holy Capital’s perpetually Holy Light-infused magic environment and eternally pristine ambiance…
…had already grown frail during this rainy night following the Pope’s demise.
The Evil God’s descent, the Demon God’s emergence, and Lolth’s unleashed power all conspired to make the capital’s magical atmosphere grow increasingly eerie.
Yet even these divine or quasi-divine beings remained confined to limited areas, their presence failing to significantly alter the city’s broader environment.
But in this singular moment…
Everything changed.
Across the Holy Capital’s labyrinthine streets and within its ancient walls, countless concealed magic arrays and arcane sigils ignited with spectral light!
Dormant energies awakened after decades of slumber, activating colossal spellwork spanning three-quarters of the city, their ghostly luminescence cutting through the storm’s darkness.
The glowing patterns coalesced into a shimmering tapestry that inverted the night sky’s reflection, making cascading raindrops appear to defy gravity in their suspended trajectories.
Magical forces completely enveloped the capital.
From an aerial view through magical perception, the spectacle revealed its full grandeur –
A hundred luminous nexuses and thousands of minor arrays interlocked with clockwork precision…
…ultimately forming a gargantuan magical diagram!
This colossal formation matched the intricate craftsmanship of Lolth’s Hillenbrand Town defenses, yet dwarfed them in sheer magnitude.
Four decades of clandestine labor by Great Sage Philtes and his hundred mages now manifested –
The entire Holy Capital now rested within this arcane lattice!
Its purpose became immediately apparent:
The formation siphoned dormant faith energies and lingering divinity from the Pope’s passing, channeling these powers into mystical reservoirs.
Then space itself groaned as the Dimensional Barrier fractured, birthing a bidirectional conduit to foreign realms.
Elemental torrents erupting from the formation’s nodes revealed its destination –
The Elemental Planes!!!
Rampant wind and water elements escalated the downpour to catastrophic proportions, transforming rain into horizontal sheets that drowned the city in roaring white noise.
Earth and fire elements surged through cracked streets, triggering seismic tremors like some colossal Earth Dragon awakening. Earthen spires erupted between buildings while cerulean-crimson flames exploded through the deluge, flash-boiling entire waterfalls into scalding mist.
The warring elements created apocalyptic visions yet maintained fragile equilibrium – terrible to behold, but miraculously preventing total destruction.
Still, any witness to this maelstrom of inverted rain, decibel-shattering storms, and prismatic steam would inevitably think…
The end times had come.
Members of the Church of Light – even junior clergy – trembled uncontrollably as they pleaded:
"O Lord, why permit such desecration… within Your sacred city?!"
Every devout soul echoed this anguished cry.
The God of Light remained silent – as He had through millennia of mortal entreaties.
He could not respond.
Within the Holy Capital now dwelled many beings worthy of being called "gods"…
But the God of Light worshipped here was conspicuously absent!
The architect of this spectacle lay in the dungeon—a newly ascended entity, in some sense equally deserving of the title "deity"…
"Never-ending Night" Philtes!
The mightiest streams of mana from the elemental planes cascaded into his very soul!
Yet this was merely the first stage!!!
This magic circle transcended mere substitution—replacing Star Spirit energies with elemental forces, shifting connections from the spiritual world to elemental planes.
This formed the crux of the Wizard Association’s grand "scheme," masterminded by Philtes himself…
A design…
To pilfer divinity and forge totems of an "Elemental God"—tools to craft near-divine entities!
Though the God of Light’s withheld blessings currently limited the circle’s full potential…
This remained the Holy Capital…
A Holy Capital freshly bereft of its Pope.
The lingering divinity here still held substantial power!
For Philtes, cornered yet relentless, this proved… barely sufficient!
Following the mana surge came the influx of "divinity"!
His calculations proved precise…
As stolen divinity and divine power permeated the elemental planes…
They resonated with that throne-like structure he’d witnessed—that "Divine Throne."
From this resonance bloomed forces akin to elemental divinity…
These forces became his crucible!
Now his Holy Domain brimmed with such power, edging perilously close to God’s Domain!
His robes whirled like storm clouds as his flesh turned crystalline, iridescent magic pulsing through translucent veins—a soul made manifest!
Within the dungeon, even the Church of Light’s seasoned veterans stared in dread.
"Such blasphemous sorcery!!!"
"God’s Domain… Forged purely from elemental magic!!"
"Damnation—what madness has the Wizard Association wrought upon us?!"
"He’s… harvesting divinity!"
Though powerless now, sharp-eyed Church hierarchs still discerned Philtes’ actions and ambitions.
Lalea, sensing Philtes’ escalating power, paled.
"Kanor—do you require aid?"
She was fully prepared to unleash all these scrolls in one breath!
"Not at all, Sister Lalea. If anything…"
Kanor stood before Philtes without a trace of fear.
Though in both visage and magical essence…
Philtes had long transcended the realm of ordinary humans.
"…Only now does fairness prevail."
As Kanor spoke, a gray mist embodying "death" enveloped her form, carving out her own domain within the elemental God’s Domain.
Philtes was not the sole one to have ascended to divine heights!
Though what Philtes had meticulously schemed and orchestrated over four decades, Kanor had only recently attained.
But…
Power does not grow mightier through arduous toil or hard-won struggles!
Power is simply power!
Whether bestowed by fortune or bloodline—it holds no distinction from that forged through relentless refinement!
Though it may seem unjust… such is the way of this world!!!
"Philtes—now, your death shall hold worth!"
Kanor’s voice rang clear as billowing death-fog surged toward the Great Sage.
"Do not underestimate me, little girl… I now stand as a ‘god’!"
Philtes’ voice thundered as encircling walls of flame surged forth.
"Moreover, elemental power is the most ‘noble’ force in this world!"
Pure elemental magic—or rather, flames kindled by elemental divinity—ignited even death itself!
The inferno consumed the dense mist, parting the haze to reveal wind blades compressed to their limits hurtling toward Kanor!
"‘Elements’ know no death… And our strengths now share equal rank!"
The wind blades pierced Kanor’s petite form, rending her vaunted defenses as if they were nothing.
Crimson blood gushed from the gash in her abdomen, and Kanor coughed violently, vomiting blood laced with viscera.
Yet her smile persisted.
"True, elements cannot perish…"
"Yet ‘death’ itself is equally eternal!"
"And so am I!"
The ashen mist spiraled into her wound, morphing into a lifeless blue-gray hue.
Her bleeding ceased abruptly.
"Now, Lord Philtes, since you’ve unveiled new power and fresh stratagems…"
"To honor your resolve… I shall respond in kind."
Kanor uttered these words…
The liquid metal that had been unfurling retracted instantaneously back into her form.
All except the portion constituting the Crown of the Forgotten withdrew completely.
In the next moment…
An unprecedented aura of dread… began radiating from Kanor’s being!
Simultaneously, along the advance path of the Evil God’s malformed avatar known as "Day of Revival"…
The divine incarnation previously marching toward the Devout District halted abruptly!
It had perceived another formidable presence…
Born from the violent collision between two equally corruptive and distortive forces.
The source emanated precisely from the dungeons beneath the Heretic Tribunal!
Observing the colossal evil deity’s sudden stillness, Patricia crouched on a distant rooftop while massaging her temples in visible frustration.
"Murphy’s Law in action… The prison complex actually spawned earth-shaking disturbances!"
"Elemental mana surges coupled with the Holy Capital’s grand magical arrays activating – one faction must be ‘Never-ending Night.’ But whom could he be battling? The Church of Light?"
"Unlikely… That opposing energy reeks of corruption – almost like another Evil God’s manifestation!"
She tugged at her hair irritably as Dorothy beside her contemplated quietly.
"This might be Teacher Lolth’s contingency measure… We shouldn’t overcomplicate matters."
"Given their current stalemate, the opposing forces have likely reached temporary equilibrium…"
"Our priority remains executing the original strategy… guiding this ‘Evil God’ toward the Devout District."
Dorothy’s fingers drifted toward her own throat as she spoke.
Patricia swiftly intercepted the gesture.
"Hold. Not yet…"
"Lolth specified all god-tier entities – the more we gather, the better. We’re delivering both disturbances to her doorstep!"
"These two forces… Let’s devise method to redirect them together!"
Dorothy blinked in momentary bewilderment.
"But… Isn’t ‘Never-ending Night’ Philtes himself? His opponent likely wields temporary divinity…"
"They’re not mindless warped avatars we can herd with simple spatial coordinates!"
Patricia inclined her head in acknowledgment.
"Precisely… Hence our reliance on this malformed incarnation!"
"First divert it toward the Tribunal dungeons… then…"
"Harness its presence to gradually shift the battleground!"
Her eyes gleamed with peculiar fervor as she spoke.
The audacity of manipulating three divine-tier existences simultaneously…
She was overwhelmed with excitement!
After a brief contemplation, Dorothy nodded softly.
"Very well, we’ll proceed as you suggest!"
She couldn’t depend on Teacher Lolth for every matter…
She needed to excel through her own efforts!
Meanwhile…
Dorothy remained unaware that Lolth currently faced unfavorable circumstances to receive another "dark god"!
Among the three pivotal locations, Lolth’s situation had uniquely encountered complications.
Patricia and Dorothy’s decisions inadvertently aided Lolth’s predicament.
Standing motionless in the torrential rain, her body gradually sinking into mud, Lolth wandered through dreamlike illusions…
approaching a critical juncture.
Emerging from her lucid dream, she instinctively summoned Isabella, guided by subconscious whispers.
Watching Isabella approach with bewildered steps…
An inexplicable compulsion suddenly surged through Lolth’s being.
"Kiss her!"
The silent command echoed through her mind.
Almost reflexively…
Lolth cradled Isabella’s face between her palms and pressed their lips together in a profound kiss.
The strangest sensation lingered…
Though supposedly their "first kiss," the familiarity of their synchronized movements and lip contact felt disturbingly natural.
Wait…
Could this truly be their initial embrace?
Lolth searched Isabella’s eyes, finding neither anxiety nor hesitation within them – not even mild surprise.
Only hazy tenderness and lingering passion…
Hold on…
What’s happening here?
Why does Isabella wear this expression? I know she harbors affection for me – but since when did I become aware?
As discrepancies multiplied…
Fragmented foreign memories and recognizable voices surfaced.
"Using kisses to shatter illusions remains such a classic trope…"
"Though in my case, it stems from genuine ignorance about feminine reactions in such situations."
"Like missing crucial system files – hence my mental construct of Isabella’s post-kiss demeanor draws from limited memories."
"Another detail… Notice the rising body heat and tail movement? That’s pure succubus instinct taking over!"