After a moment of daze, it was as if he had woken up from a long dream.
Xia De sat at the head table in the banquet hall, rising in the dim banquet hall that had returned to normal. The bloody smell of the sacrifices' slaughter did not dissipate with the departure of the Evil God.
But the blood mist disappeared, and even the body behind him was gone, as if that moment of tenderness was just a dying hallucination.
"You really appeared?"
He asked blankly.
"The Transcendent Gate has been pushed open by you, and the Path of Sublimation is now revealed. Outsider, you have discovered a special Path of Sublimation, and you have gained a drop of Divinity."
On the Destiny Ring that slowly disappeared behind him, the brass-colored ring body was intertwined with an almost imperceptible golden sparkle.
"What's the use?"
Xia De gazed at the silent banquet hall. Moonlight streamed in from outside the window, falling at his feet and on the remains of the sacrifices on the ground.
"Information has been obtained from the Divinity."
"With each promotion, use a drop of Divinity to cleanse the Ling Rune corresponding to the Sublimation Words. When you advance to the Thirteenth Ring, if you complete the cleansing of the twelve Ling Runes corresponding to the three Sublimation Words, then by chanting those Sublimation Words that belong to you, you will ascend to godhood."
It was something unimaginable, but Xia De was surprisingly not overly excited:
"Can everyone do this?"
He asked in his mind.
"No, you are special. Besides you, no mortal soul is strong enough to bear the power of Divinity."
"You manifested just now?"
"The power of Divinity granted me a momentary physical form. That ring offered a fleeting possibility, allowing you to absorb the power of the Evil God. Of course, it will also observe you because of this, which is worth being wary of."
"Will you always be by my side?"
"Of course."
Xia De walked through the deathly silence to the back of the banquet hall, pushed open the door, and came to the third-floor terrace. The blood mist had dissipated in the night wind, but Lakeview Manor's courtyard was already in chaos.
He felt that in the moment, he possessed an unprecedentedly powerful strength.
"What other uses does Divinity have?"
"By burning the power of Divinity as a consumable with the Destiny Ring, you can temporarily transform into a god, gaining a temporary ‘Divine Radiance’ state. You are not a god, but you can rival any deity."
Xia De remained silent, looking at the courtyard of Lakeview Manor. The blood mist that had permeated the courtyard dissipated, and people still lay on the ground.
In the very center of the manor courtyard, the long tables were scattered, and two Ring術士 teams from the Orthodox Church were fighting a middle-aged man whose eyes glowed with silver light.
The middle-aged man was protecting "Mrs. Lasoya," who had just severely wounded Schneider and his two companions.
Xia De on the third-floor terrace murmured:
"The Silver-Eyed One of Mercury Blood, he's here to provide backup for that fellow. But I think there's no need to use Divinity for mortals."
"Within ten minutes of obtaining Divinity, due to a slight overflow of divine power, you possess an almost immortal body and almost infinite Ling, but once you use the overflowing power, you will fall into a long period of unconsciousness afterward. This is the ‘Divine Overflow’ state."
"While holding Divinity, its power is sealed within the Destiny Ring, and the overflowing radiance will keep you in a ‘Divine Radiance’ state. During this time, using any Miracle, spell, or ritual will be enhanced."
"So, this is the Divine Radiance that Old God spoke of... So, my task for the rest of this life is to travel through past and present time and space, just to collect twelve drops of Divinity? For you? For me?"
"There is no task; everything is up to you. Outsider, you are beyond Destiny."
The nonagonal brass Destiny Ring behind the Silver-Eyed One displayed his power. A Ring術士 team of over twenty people surrounded him, but none could get close.
The mercury light appeared behind the Silver-Eyed One. As the Miracle was fully unleashed, a giant mercury giant manifested. It held the Silver-Eyed One, holding the Destiny Ring, and stood above the courtyard soil.
The power of the Miracle prevented people from approaching, but the young woman with brown hair, Iluna Bayas, bravely stood in front of the injured to protect her companions.
Xia De saw her, and she suddenly looked up and saw the masked stranger on the third-floor terrace.
"So who is she?"
"You should ask your friend Annette, not me. But clearly, even if there is a so-called protagonist in this world, it won't be you. Outsider, no one can interfere with the choices of those beyond Destiny, but an audience of a story cannot become the protagonist."
"With the Path of Sublimation to godhood with twelve Divinity, I don't want to become some troublesome The Chosen. But are you an Old God with the Silver Moon divine authority? Are you the Witch Emperor of the Silver Moon from the fifth epoch? Did you choose me to help you after I ascend to godhood? This is my last question."
"No, I am you."
Xia De nodded; he accepted the other party being with him.
Standing on the terrace, he took out a frog's leg, crushed it with his fingers, and chanted an awkward incantation, using the spell "Frog's Leap."
Then, with a light leap, he jumped from the third-floor terrace onto the roof of the mansion, standing under the brilliant starry sky, beside a stone statue on the roof.
The people in the courtyard also noticed the young man under the starry sky. He was high up, bathed in the light of the three full moons, yet only the light of the Silver Moon seemed to drape over him.
Xia De's whisper sounded at this moment. The overflowing power of Divinity and the memory of the Moon's Dream from not long ago urged the Silver Moon Ling Rune to cast the Miracle "Moon Shadow's Illusion."
At this moment, the Silver Moon in the sky seemed to detach from the other two moons. The Silver Moon disk grew larger and larger until it appeared behind him, as if passing through his head, shining light from his right eye.
At the same time, it made Xia De's figure, standing on the roof in front of the Silver Moon, only a blurry silhouette.
Xia De recalled the Moon's Dream again, thinking of the traces of the Silver Moon's light in the night sky.
He stood with his feet together, his hands slightly raised at his sides, and with a light leap, he ascended into the night sky.
The giant Silver Moon hung high in the sky. Xia De's body turned in front of the Silver Moon disk. When his body reached the very center of the Silver Moon, he perfectly extended his arms, hanging upside down with his head down and feet up in the star sea before the Silver Moon.
As his body fell, his left foot, imbued with the Silver Moon's radiance, slid forward, pulling his right foot to follow downward.
Xia De, inverted before the Silver Moon, was only a silhouette in front of it, but his feet traced brilliant and dazzling silver light trails in the air. Those dazzling light trails detached from the path of his feet and gradually grew larger in the night sky.
Breaking through the night sky, cleaving this tranquil summer night, under the stars, the Silver Moonlight's slash, like a descending white silk ribbon, plummeted towards the courtyard of Lakeview Manor.
"This is..."
The moon's radiance caused people a moment of distraction, casting silver light on everyone's faces.
The Church Ring術士 team besieging the Silver-Eyed One pulled the unconscious guests back. The mercury giant turned its massive body, raised its arms, and was evaporated by the splendid Silver Moon radiance without any resistance.
The Silver-Eyed One, suffering from the backlash of the Miracle, spat blood, abandoned "Mrs. Lasoya" to dodge, causing "Mrs. Lasoya," who was oblivious to the situation, to be immediately evaporated by the Moonlight as well, her white pebble ring falling onto the ground below.
The splendid Silver Moon radiance finally landed on the ground, leaving a permanent moon mark etched into the manor courtyard's ground in an earthquake that nearly shook the entire southern suburb of Tobesk.
His figure disappeared into the air, and Xia De fell onto the third-floor terrace, truly falling into a coma this time.
Miss Annette reached out and pulled him back into the shadows of the terrace, away from the Orthodox Church's sight, and then led him back to the third-floor banquet hall where the sacrifices' bodies were piled.
Priest Augustus, who had awakened, was there attending to the still unconscious Doctor Schneider and Miss Louisa. Aside from his pale face, he surprisingly seemed to have fully recovered.
"He just trusted that we would take him away in time?"
The lady with purple eyes whispered, looking at the Detective's sleeping face; she was the only one not seriously injured tonight.
"Hamilton Detective is actually a young man who trusts others very easily. He is too young, just having awakened from blind foolishness. He still lacks a lot of life experience, which I will teach him later, but the Detective is indeed a good person."
Priest Augustus, whose face was pale, said, shaking his head. His complexion was recovering at a visible rate, but then he hesitated:
"That Silver Moon slash just now..."
"We all have secrets, don't we, Priest Augustus? Just like you, no matter how severely you're injured, you always recover."
Miss Annette said, her sparkling eyes looking at the sleeping young Detective:
"For example, my prophecy has always shown that our group will never have a fifth person. He is from beyond Destiny."
"Let's go quickly. You take the three of them, and I'll hold off the Church's Ring術士 team."
The old man said wearily:
"Today, it was truly fortunate that you ultimately destroyed the ritual node, preventing the Evil God from coming to our world. Annette, you have saved the world again."
"Yes, I did destroy the node, but..."
Annette, with short brown hair and purple eyes, looked at Xia De, but before she succeeded, the Evil God's shadow had clearly partially appeared, although only for three seconds.
However, in front of a deity capable of twisting time and space, three seconds might not truly be three seconds.
"He was lucky to endure for three seconds in front of the Evil God's shadow, allowing me to completely destroy the ritual."
Shaking his head and preparing to leave, Priest Augustus tidied his clothes, looking at the chaotic banquet hall:
"I have a premonition that all of this is definitely not the end."
Moonlight streamed in from the window, casting the Priest's huge shadow onto the banquet hall wall. The shadow flickered, as if a pair of wings flashed behind it.
Miss Annette's purple eyes glowed faintly. She looked at Xia De's face gently, as if speaking to herself:
"Priest, all of this is just the beginning. The epic belonging to the sixth epoch has begun."