"..."

The colossal fortress struck Sulla's body, which had been displaced from the void. Its overwhelming mass ensured that, even if he reappeared, he would be unable to act. Roland understood that the Utopia's plan might yet fail if Sulla were restrained.

A thunderous boom reverberated. The radiant sphere that represented the God of Light unfurled the brilliance it had summoned, casting luminous waves in every direction. This power, in essence, was still void energy, but shaped by a god's influence into divine power. The God of Light's divine power manifested as golden radiance, gentle and warm to the faithful, yet a blazing sun capable of melting all things to his foes.

"Light..."

"A... trap...!"

"Run!"

"Kill Him!"

Besieged by divine light, the evil gods were wracked by destruction anathema to their very essence. Their cries overlapped: panic from those who realized what was happening, blind fury from those lashing out instinctively, and countless other fragmented emotions, each a reflection of their twisted natures.

To mortals, void gods were inconceivably powerful. But before the God of Light, foremost of the gods, the mightiest divinity worshiped by the continent's civilized races, they were pitifully insignificant.

The holy light poured over their writhing forms. These chaotic, malicious beings of the void began to melt away, unmade not merely in body but in essence. Unlike ordinary wounds, the destruction they suffered now was irreversible. What the holy light obliterated would never return.

Far below, in the deeper layers of the void, another presence watched the scene unfold. As the scar across its body throbbed faintly, it halted its pursuit of its enticing prey without a shred of hesitation. That being was Wang Yu's old acquaintance, the Undying Lord.

Among the Undying Lord's powers was immortality. The term could be understood in many ways: a body strong enough that nothing could kill it, or the ability to evade everything that could.

Against ordinary foes, its indestructible flesh sufficed. But before the God of Light, the only path to survival was retreat.

It was strange even among void gods. Most evil gods—indeed, nearly all—were creatures of pure chaos, incapable of reason. Their "thoughts" were nothing more than composites of malice, compulsion, and instinct, urging them to destroy everything before them in whatever manner pleased them.

But the Undying Lord was different. Perhaps because it had once been struck by the God of Light yet not fully annihilated, it possessed a flicker of simple cunning—enough, at least, to know never to meet Him face-to-face.

Without lingering, it allowed itself to sink back into the depths of the void. As long as the God of Light remained, it would never dare approach.

The other mindless abominations were not so fortunate. Under the God of Light's blazing judgment, their bodies disintegrated rapidly, their shrill and frenzied howls echoing across the region. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

By all logic, the destruction of void gods, enemies of the material realm, was a blessing for all. Indeed, in ages past, the God of Light Himself had descended into the depths of the void and slaughtered countless void gods. Ever since, He had dwelt there; any void creature that wandered too close would be annihilated by His instinctive response.

But the Pope of the Church of Light, Kiran, didn't look relieved at all. He understood precisely what Sulla intended, and what the Utopia sought to achieve.

Even as Pope, Kiran was merely closer to the divine. He wasn't capable of interfering with the God of Light Himself. Sulla, and by extension the Utopia, had wanted the God of Light to strike at these void gods.

Kiran wasn't a powerful being in his own right. For years he had been bound almost entirely to the God of Light; aside from his absurdly strong mental resistance, the rest of his reserves, namely the void energy he had accumulated, had been expended entirely in his clash with Sulla. Unlike wizards, who could gather and replenish void energy, his reserves were now completely gone.

All these years, his efforts had been devoted to altering humanity's perception of the God of Light—to blur the definition of the divine and prevent it from being confined to any single precise concept. It was all in preparation for this moment.

To be frank, there was now little he could do. Everything depended on Roland, who was still suppressing Sulla—and on the desperate contingency they had been prepared to unleash.

A faint crackle sounded. Sulla's form trembled beneath the fortress. The ninth-tier Beyond the Firmament was about to expire, and soon Sulla would return to a realm where he could be harmed. Roland had no intention of allowing him to escape and complete his plan.

A sharp snap resounded as Sulla's intangible body finally shattered. The instant he became vulnerable once more, Roland brought the fortress crashing down again, denying him any opportunity to cast a spell.

Yet the very moment Beyond the Firmament ended, another spell activated—the Gate of Phases. The two spells triggered simultaneously, a combination Roland recognized instantly. But in the years since, the spell had been revised into a distinct form.

The Gate of Phases, a spell that could overcome even higher-tier counterparts, once again showcased its power. Even crushed beneath Roland's fortress, Sulla's body vanished, slipped through space, and reappeared in the surrounding void.

His lips curved in a thin smile. "Apologies. This spell is no longer the one you remem—"

Then, he froze. Every last one of the god-slaying daggers he carried had vanished.

Roland had not been able to capture Sulla—but he had crushed three daggers beneath his fortress. Even if Sulla slipped away, Roland would never allow the tools central to his plan to remain intact.

But what happened next defied even Roland's expectations. Sulla did not appear near the God of Light's core.

Instead, he manifested some distance away—precisely where the God of Light had extended His power outward to annihilate the void creatures. It was a region that Roland couldn't reach in time.

"I trust you understand now," Sulla said calmly. "Those daggers were tools meant to fulfill my purpose. But I am essentially the same as they are. Anything the daggers can accomplish, so can I."

Sulla thrust his hand into the stream of divine light. The vast consciousness within his body surged forward, flowing along the extension toward the divine. Just as he claimed. The daggers contained enormous quantities of sealed minds meant for this very task. But Sulla's body was filled with the very same.

"..."

Roland said nothing. Silently, he triggered the contingency he had planted long ago.

High above, in Skyborne City, a certain student was sorting books when he suddenly noticed something peculiar: an empty slot on a certain bookshelf—empty for as long as he'd been here—now held a book. Curious, he stood on tiptoe and reached up for it, eager to see just what it contained.

Just then, however, a wooden plank smacked down on his head. He spun around and found his advisor glowering at him, displeasure written plainly across the old man's face.

"What do you think you're doing? Did you find the void archives I told you to fetch? Is this the time for your irrelevant nonsense?!"

His voice was steeped in stern disappointment.

"But, Master, look at that book. It just appeared out of nowhere!"

He feared his notoriously strict advisor, of course, but his curiosity overcame the fear for a moment. He pointed toward the volume that had appeared out of nowhere.

The wooden plank struck again.

"And does that section of the archives contain books on the void?

He narrowed his eyes as he questioned the wincing student, who shuddered.

"N-No..."

"Then why are you still talking to me about it?!"

Then came another sharp smack and a merciless scolding.

"I-I'm sorry!"

The student didn't dare indulge in another spark of curiosity. He abandoned the mysterious book entirely and rushed off to continue searching for the void materials he'd been ordered to find.

Similar situations were taking place all across Skyborne City.

"My apologies, Roland. The message you're sending... the world isn't ready to hear it. There are still ways we must rely on these powerful beings. You've kept a card in reserve to bring everything crashing down. But I've kept one to slow their descent."

Nothing in this place changed despite Roland's contingency being triggered. Sulla's voice slowly became disembodied as his steadily dissolving form merged into the God of Light.

"All we can do is hope my years of effort haven't been wasted... The God of Light's image has blurred to such an extent that He won't be as easily manipulated as the other gods..."

The Pope of the Church of Light looked at Sulla—at his body slowly subsumed into divine radiance—and spoke to Roland with weary resignation.

"We never intended to manipulate the God of Light, Kiran. Your efforts weren't in vain. You've turned Him into a deity so mighty that even all of us combined couldn't sway Him. But asking Him to perform one righteous act... that much is still possible."

Just before he was fully absorbed into the God of Light's power, Sulla delivered his final message to Kiran.

In the theocracy of the Church of Light, a vast spatial rift tore open. Skyborne City burst forth, all its engines driven to the point of overload as it sped toward its destination.

"Detecting an intense surge of void energy—wait... that's... the God of Light?!"

An observer aboard Skyborne City stared at the scene unfolding at her target. Her report stumbled to a halt as dawning realization strangled her words. Shock and disbelief swept across her face.

At the very center of the Church of Light's domain, the colossal form of the God of Light was descending, His golden radiance flooding the land. He thrust His arm downward, driving it through the earth and shattering the boundary between the material world and the void.