Pillars of Ita

Serena hesitated.

Immediately, a surge of anger surged in her heart. She hesitated because of an empty threat. But the real source of her anger was the realization that her situation was not as easy as she said:

If she failed, the Dark Saints would grant power to their followers, but it was not out of mercy. On the contrary, they were known for their coldness and cruelty. Amatos would not mind throwing the loser to the bug. She had seen with her own eyes the tragic end of those who were questioned.

"No, I will not fail. He is just trying to…scare me. He is stalling for time."

Selina's eyes glowed with fanaticism, greed swallowed up her reason, she had to ignite the divine fire, so as not to repeat the same mistakes. They had suffered humiliation, and they were not willing to return to the tragic past, so even death was as light as a feather, because losers were worthless.

“This is the answer that life has taught me.”

She said this coldly in her heart, and walked forward, as if crossing the hills of corpses of countless people she had sacrificed. The innocent victims grabbed her ankles and arms with their hands, but she struggled to break free and then reached out to the gray flames.

"Conceive the divine fire."

She watched as the grey flames climbed up her fingertips, turning her skin to ash and burning up her arms.

But Selina seemed to feel no pain. The advent of divinity requires sacrifice. Death and resurrection are two sides of the same coin in nature, so the fate of twins is naturally left in divinity.

"I am a twin," Selina shouted in her heart, "Have mercy on me, great withering and shadow! She is kind, I am cruel, just like the twins of life and death, I fit you perfectly, and I will reshape you from fate!"

Atila looked at this scene with some worry. She looked at Fang He who was standing beside her: "Ed..."

But Fang He shook his head slightly and just watched silently as the female bishop threw herself into the fire, like a fanatical and self-igniting torch.

“She won’t make it.”

"You're still stubborn even when you're about to die." Selina gave the two of them a sarcastic look.

An inexplicable aura is descending from the space. The ownerless divinity and the laws of nature are watching their candidates from above.

Selina looked up, trying to imagine divinity from the darkness, projecting the infinite resentment she saw into the withering god base: death, pain, revenge, betrayal. People's thoughts portrayed the gods they saw, and great concepts were born from nothingness.

If she succeeds, a twisted, dark god will be born from the abyss, a being that bears the shadow of death, but only as a reflection of the past.

Just as the goddess of fate described in the prophecy, new gods will be born from the twins.

But the divine fire only shook a little, still spreading upward along the bishop's upper arm, as if it would engulf her right shoulder in the next step.

"There is also a side that faces the light. Decay and resurgence are two sides of the same coin. Without death, there would be no life, just as without light, there would be no shadow. The darkness in the forest is the gaze of the sun."

Selina thought of her sister, they were one, but their souls were split into two. But she had no pity for herself, she was special only because she would be the last one among many sacrifices.

"Sister, it's your turn to serve us." She said gently to the shadow swaying in front of her.

They had experienced together the betrayal and humiliation suffered by the Ironthorn Family. When they were weak, they were the victims. Therefore, when she gained power, it was natural for her to be cruel to others.

This era is fair, and it ridicules everyone fairly.

The shadow of the female bishop looked at her silently, turned around and walked towards the flames without saying a word. It was like a farewell, but more of a breakup.

The flames engulfed everything.

But Selina laughed, a laugh that was vicious and arrogant.

Because she found that if she didn't laugh, the missing half of her soul would be like a blank, like a mirror, reflecting that pale, lost face.

No, she succeeded. After paying so much, even though the price was insignificant, the voice that had argued with her for countless days and nights finally quieted down.

She finally got it all.

She obtained the long-desired power to control her own destiny, whether it was her own or others'. From now on, she would never have to go back to the past.

There's no going back to the past.

At that moment, the gray flames finally died out, lying dormant on her skin, forming gray patterns in the burned areas, like a withering divinity.

Selina could almost feel the wonderful feeling flowing through her body, the divine power was weak at first, but gradually began to nourish her body.

No, it should be Him.

Selina looked at Fang He and Attila with a sneer, trying to capture something on their faces that would please Him.

He firmly believed that he was right because she had never been treated gently, so the world would treat everyone equally and ruthlessly.

Only power can dominate everything.

But He was destined to be disappointed, because the young man just looked at him expressionlessly, even with a hint of mockery, and that look was bound to displease Him.

And Attila on the side also frowned, as if she saw something unreasonable in her.

In the eyes of the two people, He saw that the parts of his body that were burned by the gray flames had turned into gray tree trunks.

His ankles were connected to the earth, and his right hand turned into a dry branch, like a withering holy white tree.

The smile froze on Selina's face.

"No, what's going on?" A trace of panic flashed in her eyes. "I should be "Him", not a part of the Holy Tree. I am not a disaster branch. Why is this happening?"

She tried to mobilize her divine power, but the gray flame did not obey her commands.

"Why?" Selina looked at the young man beside her in horror, "What did you do?!"

"I didn't do anything." Fang He replied calmly.

"You're lying," Selina panicked, her voice revealing her weakness, "The divine fire belongs to me, why can't I mobilize it?"

The elf lady held the holy staff in her hand, and a gleam of light flashed in her eyes. She finally understood. She raised her head and said to the other party:

"Because it has never belonged to you. Twins are just a lie. If you can sacrifice the other destined one, how can the fate of the twins belong to you?"

"Selina, the death of the shadows in the forest is followed by rebirth. The dormancy and revival of all things are like the passing of winter and the coming of spring, which will always go back and forth. Life and death, light and shadow, are closely related to each other, but without the other, they cannot become each other."

Selina's expression changed.

But she quickly convinced herself: "No, don't use sweet words to shake me. Twins are just an appearance. Otherwise, they would have died and Aimaya would have committed suicide long ago, and the forest should have found a new master. But it is the endless power that really gave birth to divinity. I paid such a great price, and the power extracted from the suffering of countless victims allowed me to step onto the steps to godhood -"

Fang He raised his head and looked at Selina, and finally spoke: "Divinity must be born from absolute laws. You must firmly believe this to conceive the seeds of darkness from the ashes and fire. Amatus told you so, right?"

So the whole world betrayed her and abandoned her.

She can use and sacrifice others without scruples, even the other half of her soul, her sister.

But there was no response from her soul. The silence seemed to have caused an irreparable crack in Selina's heart. She said hurriedly:

"Isn't that so? Don't they have to pay the price? Is this world targeting me alone?!"

"I have never received a fair response, and neither has she, nor those girls who died in vain. They did not receive any redemption before they died. I saw with my own eyes that their empty pupils only reflected despair and fear of death. What about the temple, the parliament, and Her Royal Highness the Princess?"

"What about Aimaya and Oli? What about the fate that claims to be fair? They abandoned us, just as my family had experienced everything—"

"No, this world is indeed fair. It just manipulates everyone's fate equally and ruthlessly, playing the cruelest joke on them."

Selina's voice was almost hysterical. "Since it has given us such justice, I will respond to it with the same justice, using the power and method that belongs only to me."

Her eyes were full of the flames of revenge, and what she wanted to avenge was the whole world.

Hatred, pain, death and fate, these are indeed enough to twist a dark god out of the divine fire, and the fate of the twins is indeed reflected in it one by one.

But Fang He did not respond to her directly. Instead, he took out the page of the plan and an old letter from his arms.

They were obtained by Elwood from the Ninimere front and handed over to Arlin Ironheart through the head of the Disaster Investigation Department and his assistant Lilithel.

Five people's signatures were left on the page, including an agent from the Investigation Department who transferred them, and a member of the Special Council.

Finally, the master craftsman analyzed the entire process of the ceremony, and then Halsey and Zukul handed it over to him.

Every link in the plan and the story about it have been clearly written above.

Arryn Ironheart - actually from another branch of the Ironthorn family.

"You guessed a lot right, Selina," Fang He opened the letter and said softly, "but you overlooked one thing."

"I guess you remember this clearly, but you deliberately avoided it. One hundred and seventy years ago, a twin soul was born in Silver Wind Harbor. But why is there still a gentleness in this soul cursed by fate?"

His dark eyes seemed to pierce through Selina's soul. "The sister who sacrificed for you was the exact opposite of you. It was through her gentleness and kindness that she regained people's trust, washed away the stigma of her family, became the bishop of the Saint's Congregation, and reached her current position."

"Ms. Selina, why is this?"

"It's just a... coincidence." Selina avoided his gaze guiltily. The blank space in her heart was becoming increasingly unbearable.

"Not really," Fang He's words were like a sharp sword that cut through this clumsy lie. "There are many people in this world who have let you down, but the only ones who have never let you down are this world itself and the person who was betrayed by you."

"Selina - or, Lilandel," he suddenly raised his voice, "your soul once disappeared in the ash forest, but what brought you back to this world, you know best."

"Someone used his own life to exchange for your rebirth. The fate that you called the most indifferent and ruthless finally responded to you with tenderness. But what about you, Lilandel? Do you still remember the promise you made to Quel'Dra?"

Fang He finally gently closed the last page of the story recorded in fate, on that night when the fire was burning.

There was a young girl who eventually changed everything with her life.

The world kisses me with pain, but I still embrace it with song.

Hatred was the fuel of this female bishop, but hatred ultimately became the weakest link in her plan. Her hatred for the world came from her own self-deception.

But she can deceive herself, but she cannot deceive the law itself.

The one thing she sacrificed, the only tenderness in her soul, the twin shadow of her destiny, eventually became her fatal weakness.

Therefore the divine fire will not be kindled in her.

Selina's face was turning pale, as if she had seen the unchangeable ending of her fate. She had deceived herself that she deserved everything, but now it seemed to be just an illusion in the mirror. Then from the mirror, she saw that familiar face, her sister's face, looking at her coldly but sternly.

Then the face gradually changed, turning into a burning shadow. From the shadow emerged a majestic gaze, piercing deep into her soul.

Selina screamed—

An unbearable sting of division seemed to come from her soul, and the gray flame seemed to split her in two, and a shadow rose from it.

The dissipated divine fire drifted in all directions, and part of it even flew directly towards Fang He.

The unpredictable shadow floated into the air, forming a dark cloud that covered the sky and the sun. It seemed as if thousands of eyes were hidden in the shadow, and countless consciousnesses and souls were struggling and screaming in it.

And the owner of the shadow was focusing every glance on Fang He below.

The Thousand-Eyed Demon Lord, the Master of the Soul of Evil, the Soul Devourer—Amatus. Fang He was not surprised when he saw this Lord of Darkness. He actually knew that the Dark Saints would not allow a small pawn to ascend to God. They themselves also coveted this divine fire and kept an eye on this place all the time.

But Selina didn't realize it. She was watching this scene in despair, and then she realized that her fantasy was just a dream from the beginning.

"You... lied to me..."

"We have never deceived you, nor do we bother to deceive you," a cold voice came from the shadows, "it's just that you are not strong enough, not cunning enough, so you can't take away what belongs to you from us."

“You can’t realize that power is illusory until you are unable to bully others. The world has always been fair and it treats everyone equally.”

Amatos replied coldly, then turned to the Plover: "And you, young man, what is your story?"

"My story," Fang He raised his head and answered, "to defeat you."

A sharp laugh came from the shadows.

Gray flames were flying all over the sky, drifting equally towards both sides, but Fang He was not in a hurry. He knew that this battle was not about who came first or last.

But all destinies have already been determined. From the beginning of the story, the ending of the story is destined, and now the only thing that determines everything is.

It is the story they wrote at the beginning of the story.

Will the one he finds among the myriad branches of destiny eventually lead to the path of success and rewrite the fate of Giant Tree Hill?

Now, fate has put the choice in his hands.

Fang He gently reached out his hand towards the flame.

"Ed!" When his fingertips touched the gray fire, he heard Miss Attila calling his name worriedly.

But Fang He turned around and smiled at the elf lady, then his fingertips sank into the flames and read everything about the past from the flames.

Like a stone dropped into a sea of ​​light.

Ripples appeared on the sea of ​​light.

The ripples spread out in circles until they passed through every node in the world. The resonance of the etheric world seemed to herald the birth of a god.

Just as a storm rises above a new sea, fate drops its green branches, and the ancient cycle of resurrection and death once again resumes its course.

From the ancient shadows, a destiny has just passed its beginning and end.

The entire hill of giant trees was shaking violently, and the gray branches everywhere seemed to have revived and began to grow wildly, occupying every inch of land.

The resisting people watched in despair as the border of the disaster spread forward, the port was reduced to ruins in the gray waves, and the civilized world was entering its final dusk.

But at that moment——

A ray of light passed across the sky and hit the twitching branch. A dazzling light bloomed in the air, and stars fell from the sky like raindrops.

Countless gray creatures died in the meteor shower.

"It's the Dragon Rider!"

"The dragon riders are coming—"

The soldiers and civilians of Silver Wind Harbor looked at the stars appearing in the sky in their desperate situation, and hope once again bloomed on their already desperate faces.

"Mr. Carandil," Fanny's voice was full of excitement outside Silverwind Harbor, "It's the Dragon Rider!"

Kalandir reached out to stop her. He had actually recognized that it was the Dragon Rider of Eternal Night - Wyrm.

And the other one in the air, Erickson.

He turned around, drew his sword, and said to the unicorn girls, "Hide here. I'll be back soon."

"Mr. Carandil, are you going?"

"I'm going to fight."

The hometown of fairies, Roshar——

Ming was in mid-air looking at the fairyland that had turned into a sea of ​​fire. She raised her hand, and light gates opened one by one behind her.

The fairies flew into the air, chirping and surrounding the first war lord among the ten kings, thanking her for her help.

"Don't bother me." Ming said to the little guys helplessly.

"Okay, okay," the fairies were still optimistic at this time, and only regarded the fire as a joke, "Ms. Ming is our friend, the best human being!"

But not everyone can view the sunset of civilization with such optimism.

As the Hill of Giant Trees was moving from the long day into the night, its inhabitants were watching the last sunset on this land before the long night.

The Papara people looked up and saw darkness gradually covering the earth. The fire in the distance became more and more obvious in the darkness. The Gray Domain's offensive was getting more and more fierce, and the army of the Insect King Karsak had appeared on the front line.

That world of death is tearing a rift from the Hill of Giant Trees, and the army of darkness is pouring out of it.

He swallowed and felt a little powerless for the first time. It seemed that the title of King of Nightingales was not so useful at this moment.

But Parker suddenly realized that the first thing that came to his mind at this moment was a smiling face.

That woman Aina, nothing will happen to her, right?

The Paparar people showed a rare look of worry and turned to look in the direction of the Elf Court - the person those guys believed in.

What is he doing?

Will the miracle happen again?

He didn't want to have such thoughts, but it was undeniable that the Paparar people realized that they were willing to believe it at this moment.

The center of the Elven Court.

The hall where the king was - it was already empty at this moment. The eldest princess Melfina had already led the Sons of Light to put out fires everywhere.

There was only a lonely king on the throne. Eloris was slowly taking off the seal ring on his hand and placing it on the armrest beside him.

He sat quietly in the darkness, as if he had returned to a certain moment in the past. The silver hair on his head was quickly turning gray, and wrinkles appeared on his elf face.

And in that dream, he finally saw the face he had longed for:

"Zoya."

"I did wrong."

In the sacred forest, the Saint of Heimwol seemed to feel the same call at the same moment. She looked up into the air silently.

A dark cloud was hanging over the entire Giant Tree Hill, and Amatos was forcibly projecting himself into this world through the door of the sacred tree.

Millions of eyes are watching the earth.

But the Saint also took off a ring, then turned around and looked at Alsana who was struggling to hold on: "Princess, please hold on. The fate of Giant Tree Hill is linked to you and me."

She gently threw the ring in her hand into the door. The body of the Great Saint was shrinking little by little, turning back into the appearance of a dragon soul.

Then she closed her eyes and turned into a crystal falling from the air.

But Lian Arsana could no longer feel this scene. In fact, she could no longer hear any sound from the outside world.

The elven princess held the holy sword tightly in her hand all the time, with one end of the sword inserted into the ground beneath her feet. Her face was pale, but she kept the door open.

Her hands and parts of her body had almost become the same gray branches as the door.

Zukul watched the scene in silence—the Lord of the Shadow of the Sun had already left to join the battle of the Gray Tide.

At this moment, the young dragon knight also chose to turn around and walk back.

"You won't watch over me anymore?" Juliana said, looking at his back.

"Juliana, take care of yourself."

The dragon knight uttered a word.

In the sacred forest, a sword master was taking off the ring on his hand, watching it fall into the mud and gradually turn into ashes.

With the memory of the binary stars of that era, everything turned to dust.

He drew his sword, looked at the disaster branch in the sky, then turned into a stream of light and flew in that direction.

...(End of chapter)