Chapter 98: My Prophecy
“Bishop, which one should we shoot?”
Amidst the scattering green light particles, a voice shouted.
At this moment, above the city center, a colossal shadowy dragon was stretching its body in slow motion.
To its east, a phantasmal figure composed of dazzling starlight, nearly equal in size, stood tall upon the earth.
“Idiot! Fool!”
“Didn’t you notice that it’s the dragon that’s trying to destroy the City of Alova?”
Lapune roared furiously.
“But that starlight…”
“Starlight, my ass!”
“His Grace Buolanke ordered us to cooperate with It!”
“But that’s an Out—”
“Shut up! Do as I say! Who’s the bishop here, you or me?!”
“Yes, Bishop Lapune!”
At this moment, endless darkness shrouded the sky, while brilliant starlight spilled across the earth.
The entire City of Alova was dominated by these two hues.
Relying on the starlight, she barely managed to suppress the chaotic Outer God persona invading her mind, and couldn't help but let out a bitter chuckle within.
This bishop of the Church of Machinery had sensed the other's bad temper the moment she laid eyes on him.
Now, seeing it firsthand—just as expected.
As she silently complained in her heart, Bishop Lapune issued the next order:
“Load the Forbidden Weapon His Grace Buolanke brought!”
With his words, the back end of the launcher on Phlororos’ shoulder opened. A multi-segmented, bizarrely long spike with a tip etched in countless green sigils was loaded into the barrel by several mechanical priests.
That was...
Upon seeing that object—one that could easily get someone sued for infringement—Sylvia’s lips almost twitched—
That is, if she still had lips.
That design, that machine... could it even hit the target?
She refocused her thoughts, intensifying the starry light’s pull on the ground, causing the tremors throughout the City of Alova to grow stronger and stronger.
At the same time, her voice rang out:
“Hit its... the top of its... crown!”
As her words fell, the city began shifting from illusion to reality, indicating that it was beginning to break away from the Domain of Manifestation.
“Stop!”
“Fire!”
Two shouts, from different people, rang out simultaneously. At that instant, Sylvia also raised her head high:
“In my name, I declare—”
“Separate!”
“Freeze!”
Repeating the incantation once more, Sylvia intensified the output of her starlight.
At this moment, the aura emanating from her was already on par with that of Hethorik.
“Ugh…”
She let out a muffled groan.
The pain that originated from her soul caused her body to suddenly slump, and her incomplete form began to convulse, as if every part of her body had developed a will of its own and started moving independently.
The scene appeared both absurd and eerie.
“Boom!”
Just then, an immense cloud of smoke once again billowed out from St. Andrenard Cathedral in the Stadcon District.
The black steel giant was knocked uncontrollably backward by the massive recoil, while a steel spike glowing with emerald radiance launched from the ground, shooting straight toward the shadowy dragon in the sky.
“Useless! If you miss, I’ll twist your head off!”
“Boom!”
With Bishop Lapune’s furious roar, the green radiance burst forth midair, dispersing part of the darkness for a brief moment!
A hit!
“Roar!”
A painful howl!
The moment Hethorik’s agonized roar echoed out, the tremors throughout the City of Alova intensified sharply.
Good. It hadn’t missed.
Sylvia let out a breath of relief. As she once again forcibly suppressed the chaotic consciousness, she realized she had reached her limit.
If she allowed Silquaya the Faceless’ power to continue descending and reach the level of a True God, her own consciousness would completely collapse.
It was time to separate!
Just then, a voice filled with complex emotions rang out behind her:
“Your Grace!”
“I…”
Without turning around, she already saw their faces.
There was Loruze, Kakilis, the Knights of the Tribunal, and the church priests.
As extraordinary beings, their recovery rate was several times faster than that of ordinary people.
Moreover, since she had mingled the power of Lust into her release of starlight, accelerating the restoration of the souls of those still alive, it wasn’t surprising they had regained consciousness by now.
However, the revival on the side of the Church of Machinery probably wasn’t her doing.
Judging by their words, it seemed the Reformer had issued certain instructions.
“I was… right, wasn’t I…”
“The so-called… Kingdom of Gods on Earth… was nothing but a lie…”
“Hah... hah...”
Though her breathing was labored, she still tried to make her voice sound light.
“Loruze... the City of Alova... is about to return... and all of you must... must immediately begin disaster relief efforts...”
Loruze didn’t respond. Instead, he looked at Sylvia, who no longer bore any semblance of a human form, and spoke with a face full of concern:
“Your Grace, are you all right?”
Look at me—what do you think?!
Sylvia grumbled internally, but didn’t voice it aloud:
“I’m fine... remember your... mission...”
“All right... return to the cathedral... stay away from me...”
With that, her gaze fell upon Hethorik, who was plummeting from the sky toward the ground, though still stuttering in motion due to her restraints.
At that moment, the crown atop its head—symbolizing the Tenth Divine Throne—was already crooked and riddled with cracks.
It was the core of its ritual, the medium connecting it to the subterranean interlayer beneath the City of Alova.
Now, after being struck by the Church of Machinery’s steel spike and coupled with her suppression stemming from authority and power, signs of collapse had already begun to manifest.
Upon seeing this, a glint of madness flashed through Sylvia’s eyes.
In the next instant, the starlight scattered across the city flared up, like flames bursting into a blaze!
“No!”
Hethorik’s unwilling roar rang out, and at that moment, the tremors across the City of Alova reached their peak—
“Buzz!”
A deafening roar exploded, and the ground beneath Sylvia’s feet and the crowd behind her instantly vanished.
Now, between starlight and darkness, all that remained was the illusory sea above and the land beneath, floating amidst the void.
This was the pure Domain of Manifestation!
With the departure of the City of Alova, the aura around Hethorik plummeted sharply.
And the collapse of the crown atop its head accelerated.
Simultaneously, the cracks spreading through the void began to slowly close, and the divinity flowing from them showed signs of breaking off.
Moreover, the four-colored divinity within Hethorik began to leak slowly, as though it was on the verge of reversing.
Alongside it, purple, black, and gray divinity flowed out as well.
Deprived of the ritual’s suppression, the forcibly conjoined Tenth Divinity finally began to clash with its original divine essences!
If it had successfully ascended, everything might still have been manageable.
Under the pressure of divinity, whether retaining or expelling the excess, it would have had options.
But now...
“Hah... hah...”
At this moment, Sylvia began to laugh—pain lacing her voice, yet tinged with a sliver of delight:
“Your ritual failed too.”
“A script without a stage—what’s left to perform?”
She lifted her face, now completely deformed, and her hollow sockets—now just two black holes—fixed their gaze upon him.
“You will not become a god.”
“This... is my prophecy!”