Surging divine power transformed into a dreamlike radiance, and under its unstoppable might, the ancient elven ruins were utterly reduced to a wasteland.
Only two Gods remained standing within the storm of divinity, facing each other, surrounded by platinum and crimson brilliance.
Crimson blood divine power flowed around Charlotte, and in her eyes—long since turned fiery gold—the reflection of the platinum God flickered. Her beautiful face was full of complexity.
Charlotte had imagined many scenarios of reuniting with Harald.
But never had she expected it to unfold like this.
Although she had long harbored vague suspicions about the identity of the “Sun God Helios,” when the truth was finally revealed, she still couldn’t suppress the tremor in her heart.
The Sun God Helios—her long-standing adversary—was actually Harald!
Had the “Sun God Helios” devoured and stolen the identity of “God-Lord Harald”?
No...
Appearances can be disguised, but not the divine soul.
Divine power can be seized, but not bloodline.
The moment the sun mask shattered, the crimson star sea within Charlotte’s consciousness—representing countless bloodbornes—shuddered almost simultaneously. One of the two remaining “suns” symbolizing Bloodborne Demigods erupted in dazzling brilliance and was deeply linked to the platinum God before her.
This was a sensation Charlotte could never mistake, for it always occurred when a blood descendant resonated with her bloodline.
And now, the one resonating with her bloodline… was none other than the “Sun God Helios” standing before her!
Or more precisely, the one who had removed his mask and was no longer hiding the fluctuations of his divine soul and bloodline—Harald!
This was what stirred not just shock but also doubt within Charlotte.
She had considered the possibility that Harald’s divine rank had been usurped by Helios, or that the “Creator’s Will” was attempting to revive through Harald.
But whether it was divine usurpation or ancient god resurrection, both would have inevitably severed the bloodline bond between her and Harald—a bond formed by the blood oath she made when she saved him long ago, a dual contract forged at both the soul and bloodline level.
Yet the Harald before her—his divine soul and bloodline aura were exactly the same as what she remembered. Charlotte could even feel her ability to suppress him through their bloodline connection—a sign that the blood oath still existed.
If she willed it, she could immediately invoke the power of their shared blood, and suppress him by suppressing the “sun” representing him in the crimson star sea!
In other words, the God before her had not been usurped by Helios. He was himself. He was Harald!
But… why was Harald looking at her with such hatred?
And more importantly… why had he hidden his identity and called himself the Sun God Helios?
No—it wasn’t merely a self-proclaimed title.
Charlotte recalled the divine battle when she had last traveled through history and driven “Helios” out of that era.
The “Sun God Helios” had chased her into that time period and was eventually defeated by her, the Moon Goddess Artemis, and the Sea King Oceanus.
And neither Oceanus nor Artemis—Helios’s own sister—had questioned his identity.
Gods do not mistake the identities of other gods—especially not one’s own sibling.
This led Charlotte to form another wild and seemingly absurd speculation—
Could it be… that Harald had always been Helios, the Sun God?
That the Sun God Helios had not been sealed away in the ruined western continent as the elven records claimed, but had instead reincarnated into the world of Myria in some rebirth-like process?
And that he had been reborn as the very same boy who followed Lilith, the boy who once called her “teacher”—Harald?
Charlotte’s divine flame burned fiercely. Her divine core spun rapidly, deducing and calculating all the possibilities, and soon pointed to a likely conclusion.
It wasn’t impossible.
In fact, Charlotte had always been puzzled by one thing—
Divine power was simply one manifestation of origin power. Yet Harald had mastered divine power not after becoming a god, nor after meeting her, but from the very moment she had time-traveled into his era—he already possessed it.
For a normal child from an ordinary tribe to wield a controllable form of origin power—this was never a mere coincidence.
In a world with Gods, behind every coincidence lies inevitability, and behind every miracle… looms the shadow of a God.
And so, Charlotte couldn’t help but have another thought.
Was her encounter with Harald and Lilith after traveling through time… also one such “coincidence”?
Of course, all of these were merely Charlotte’s speculations, formed amid shock and her accumulated doubts over time.
And they were far from flawless—some aspects were still difficult to explain.
For instance, if Helios and Harald were truly one and the same, then according to the “parallel substitution” principle of time travel, he should have replaced Harald in that timeline—just like Charlotte had replaced Lilith.
But in reality, Helios and Harald had existed simultaneously in the same era, and Artemis had never believed that the Harald following Charlotte was her brother Helios’s “reincarnation.”
Charlotte’s thoughts were racing.
However, they were quickly interrupted by a single sentence from “Harald”—so firm it was almost like a gavel striking down.
“Long time no see, my dear teacher. You look far calmer than I expected… or is it that you’ve long since anticipated this moment?”
It was a voice laced with mockery and jest, tinged faintly with a kind of transcendent arrogance—an arrogance seemingly etched into his very bones.
The tone did not resemble Harald's—it was one and the same as the lofty arrogance of “Helios.”
Beyond that, he seemed to be suppressing a certain vigilance and wariness. In those golden eyes with which he looked at Charlotte, there was not only hostility, but guarded caution.
Charlotte could more or less guess what he was being cautious about.
She exhaled softly, connecting her divine power to the crimson star sea. Her golden-red eyes were tinged with a deeper, blood-colored crimson.
“Harald, you’ve changed.”
The blood divine power began to stir faintly, and the pressure of bloodline suppression was quietly activated.
In that moment, Charlotte’s voice took on a majestic, ethereal quality—though it was merely a sigh, it seemed to carry a strange force, dignified and solemn, not to be defied, like a sovereign questioning a subordinate.
This was Charlotte invoking the bloodline suppression of the True Ancestor.
The radiance around “Harald” visibly dimmed.
And faintly, Charlotte sensed herself being drawn to a familiar yet distinct will.
It seemed to be the Harald before her—but also, somehow, not Harald.
“Harald’s” expression shifted slightly but quickly returned to normal. In an instant, divine power surged from him—it was the holy power Charlotte knew all too well, but overlaid with a blazing intensity like that of the sun.
The holy power dispelled the bloodline suppression. Charlotte’s connection was cut off almost instantly, and “Harald’s” entire presence transformed in a flash—it was as though he had become someone else.
“I’ve merely reclaimed my true self. Thanks to you, all of my plans were severely disrupted… thousands of years wasted.”
He spoke coldly.
“His true self? Split personality? Or… origin contamination?”
Charlotte’s heart stirred.
She was certain that just now, through the bloodline link, she had connected with something.
It wasn’t another soul, nor another consciousness—but a suppressed, hidden will that shared the same origin as the current “Harald.”
Like the other side of a mirror. Though fleeting, Charlotte had sharply sensed the shift in Harald’s essence.
This realization made her heart leap.
The “Harald” before her seemed unstable. Perhaps… she could use their bloodline bond, channel the impact of her blood divine power, and retrieve the Harald she once knew!
“I need an opening—a single moment to pour a massive surge of blood divine power into his divine soul. If this is truly a case of personality contamination, maybe I can awaken the part of his soul that still belongs to Harald!”
Charlotte thought to herself.
It was a bold and difficult plan.
Because—simply put—the “Harald” before her was in no way weaker than she was.
No.
He had devoured numerous subordinate Gods of the Holy Court. His true power could only be stronger than Charlotte’s!
Worse still, Charlotte could feel him stripping away her bloodline power—the bond between them was rapidly weakening...
She had to act quickly. Before the bloodline link was completely severed—and she had to strike perfectly!
With that, Charlotte summoned her divine power, and the brilliance of the Dreamy Moon’s Heart erupted once more, enveloping “Harald” again!
But at that very moment, the artifact Dreamy Moon’s Heart suddenly flickered, releasing a burst of unfamiliar silver divine power.
In just an instant, Charlotte’s control over the Dreamy Moon’s Heart was stripped away. At the same time, a silver moon-like divine core appeared in “Harald’s” hand.
Charlotte’s eyes narrowed.
That was Artemis’s divine core! The Moon Goddess!
With the Moon Goddess’s divine core in hand, the control authority over Dreamy Moon’s Heart was immediately revoked. The light that had enveloped “Harald” turned upon Charlotte in the blink of an eye.
In that brief instant, Charlotte felt her power being suppressed by more than half, and the surrounding space-time was sealed and locked.
“Harald” remained expressionless.
Holding the Moon Goddess’s divine core, he looked down at Charlotte and spoke with mocking disdain.
“Eternal Night… did you really think I couldn’t cut off your perception of bloodline power?”
“I’ve been waiting for you here for a long time. You didn’t come to find me—I needed you to come.”
“I’ve told you many times. Even if you cross time and time again, even if you change history, you cannot alter the destined conclusion.”
“Just like my Sun Temple. Even if you redo it, even if you twist it, even if you twist me, it still belongs to me—and I will return to claim it.”
“This is a conclusion that has already come to pass. It is also a conclusion that was destined.”
“And you, my dear teacher—you will become the final piece of my puzzle. With you, I will step upon the power of all myths… and ascend to true supremacy!”
As his words fell, a powerful surge of holy power erupted from “Harald.” At the same time, Charlotte sensed that her authority over the faith network of the Holy Court had also been forcefully severed by an irresistible power.