Miss Wang Weina, even your cousin won't do!

Ursus created an anti-Originium Arts device, an invention that, once activated, could paralyze Originium Arts within a certain radius. However, its limitations were also apparent; the weapon's effective range was extremely limited, rendering it ineffective unless the user came within ten meters. The Ursus Emperor was forced to organize a large-scale airborne suicide squad, dropping the device into the Letanian mage ranks via suicidal airdrops, followed by a frontal assault by the main force. This decisively defeated the Letanian army.

This invention, due to its limitations, was later used for urban policing and riot control. It was installed on the standard batons issued to Ursus's military and police, and once activated, it could disable Originium Arts in the surrounding area to suppress Infected uprisings caused by Ursus's cruel policies towards them. However, as everyone knows, when faced with large-scale, organized Infected riots, the competence of Ursus's military and police was worryingly low; in critical moments, very few military and police officers remembered this function.

However, this did not prevent the Ancestor from obtaining such a device, which was no longer a secret. The ten-meter radius, which was difficult for the Ursus people to penetrate, was nothing to the god. The moment Wayne spoke, He activated the device and approached Wayne with lightning speed.

The ten-meter range was covered in an instant, and the God of the Two-Horned Beasts was even eager to see the look of terror on Vayne's face due to the spell's failure.

"Aslan's magic is ineffective against me. Your so-called 'power to take and take' that you are so proud of is utterly worthless in the face of technology. Times have changed, Aslan!"

Zu arrogantly met Wayne's gaze without any scruples, scanning him up and down, searching for the [staff] that Wayne had used to cast the spell, which he had already paralyzed.

The Demon King's Ten Commandments is not a staff. Although it's unknown how Wayne, being an Aslan, used the desecrated Sarkaz artifact, the Ten Commandments' structure is very unique, preventing him from using Originium Arts other than the Demon King's spells. Therefore, to unleash the Mandate of Heaven, Wayne must possess other staffs.

The device's effect is not unlimited; after one round of periodic spell paralysis ends, the device needs to be restarted before a second round of paralysis can occur. During this time, He must disarm Vayne to prevent himself from being caught off guard.

The two-horned god scanned Vayne from head to toe, holding a dangerous greatsword of ice constructed from magic in his hand, but he did not have any items that resembled a staff on his body.

Could he be hiding somewhere? Zu wondered. But then he suddenly noticed that even though he was right next to him, Wayne showed no fear whatsoever. Even though he had paralyzed Wayne's magic, Wayne showed no panic whatsoever.

He seemed completely oblivious to this, and even showed a hint of delight.

This is incomprehensible. Could it be that I guessed wrong, and that this guy's roar was just a bluff, and that this generation of Aslan has not awakened the power of the Mandate of Heaven?

No...impossible. If he didn't have the power of the Mandate of Heaven, how could he have accomplished so many impossible things? He suppressed two rebellions in succession, forced the domestic nobles to reform, offended the Lateran, and took a share of Colombia's territory. Without the Mandate of Heaven, how could a short-lived being have accomplished all of these things in just over half a year?

Ha, he was probably just scared out of his wits.

Zu naturally thought of this. Standing before Wayne, he looked down upon the tiny, blond boy before him. From a god's perspective, even if Wayne accomplished everything through magic, what he did could be considered the work of a great emperor by posterity—even if he wasn't a true emperor. But unfortunately, this great achievement and the boy's short life had to come to an end today, and He Himself would personally bring it to a close.

"Thank you for coming all the way to me. It saved me from dragging my knife all that way."

The two-horned beast heard Wayne's mocking voice. What a reckless fool! Was he just a newborn calf unafraid of a tiger, or perhaps too terrified to resist a show of force? He's already halfway to his grave, yet he still spouts nonsense. Does he naively believe he can command the gods?

Don't be ridiculous. The limit of divine mandate and imperial power is only manipulating mortals with weak wills. Even the first Aslan king was still far from being able to influence the gods with his own will, let alone you, whose bloodline has been diluted countless times.

Manipulating the gods? A fool's delusion!

"Oh? You look down on it?"

Vayne raised Frostmourne with both hands, a chilling wind emanating from the blade of the greatsword. The blade reflected light, yet appeared eerily profound, as if it could suck in one's soul. Vayne calmly aimed at the god's heart, raising his head to gaze at the motionless giant.

"Then why don't you try speaking a sentence?"

Zu sneered and opened his mouth.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

No sound came out. No, did He not open His mouth?

The two-horned god's tightly closed lips gradually turned pale, replaced by a flushed, bloodshot face. He desperately tried to open his mouth, to make a sound, to refute Wayne's delusions, then to scoff at his folly and crush him into the ruins, turning him into yet another lump of flesh.

But He can do nothing.

He kept his mouth shut and his eyes wide open. His limbs, which he thought were relaxed and stretched out, now looked like a piece of fat meat imprisoned on a chopping board in a void. His head kept turning and he roared desperately, but he could not squeeze out a single pitiful syllable from his lungs.

Throwing a punch is not allowed, kicking is not allowed, and speaking is not allowed.

Refusal is not allowed, cursing is not allowed, and resistance is not allowed.

Submit. Because the emperor's order was: [Shut up, and I'll tear you to pieces!]

The unicorn's eyes reflected the cold glint of Frostmourne's blade. Frost and fear gradually crept into the god's confident eyes; the beautifully crafted greatsword seemed to transform in His eyes, becoming a worn-out rib knife used by the lowest butcher.

He doesn't believe it!

How could anyone possibly tear a god to pieces?

The connection of thought was severed, and everything came to an abrupt halt.

I stayed up all night to finish the story, so I'll update later. Everyone can read it tomorrow morning.

RT. I stayed up all night to finish the story.

This storyline brought back the long-lost YJ vibe; the Riddler has finally returned like lightning. I felt like I understood everything, yet also understood nothing at all. I learned a bunch of settings, such as the Great Yan Dynasty indeed being burdened by two evil forces. The Celestial Master's Mansion can blast mountains with lightning, and the Yan Kingdom does indeed have an Imperial Observatory to monitor celestial phenomena and natural disasters. Two more satellites appeared: one is the brother playing chess, and the other is the vanished Jie.

As for the others, well, there are many skilled martial artists in the Great Yan Dynasty...

Overall, I only half understood what I read. I'll sort it out tomorrow and then talk about it. I'll start writing tonight.

See you later, brothers!

Chapter 121 You Fulfilled Your Promise

Although the core is God, the body is ultimately just a mortal flesh attached to a human. Faced with a sharp blade, the flesh is cut open and the bones are severed, and everything seems so natural.

Wayne wasn't cruel enough to actually dismember the unicorn. As a normal human being, he wasn't insane enough to do that. After cleanly and efficiently beheading the ancestor, Wayne turned around, his gaze sweeping over the suddenly silent ruins.

At this moment, everyone's actions were surprisingly unified. Whether it was the two-horned beast or the Tower of Babel, everyone's eyes were focused on the still-astonished face in Wayne's hands.

"Hand over the hostages."

Ignoring the eerily silent crowd, Wayne coldly gave the order. But before the bicorn army, already paralyzed by the slaying of their chieftain, could utter a sound, a noise came from the distant ruins. Wayne turned and saw a disheveled, gray-haired Katarina girl carrying a Katarina girl who was clearly not even ten years old under her arm. Holding a hammer in one hand and bracing herself against the half-collapsed wall with the other, she carefully lowered her footsteps, trying to slip away quietly while everyone's attention was drawn to Wayne.

Miss Tyranny's ears twitched, acting as her owner's eyes, constantly scanning for any movement behind her. When she noticed the sudden silence behind her, Tyranny seemed to realize something was wrong. She stopped trying to slow her pace, picked up the little rabbit, and ran away.

"Atrocities?"

Seeing the familiar figure, Wayne tried calling out. The tyrant paused slightly, instinctively wanting to turn around, but then suddenly realized what was happening and sped away. But opportunities are fleeting; Wayne's call was like a signal, and Logos, already positioned along the tyrant's escape route, immediately reacted. Without needing to chant, the banshee mage simply waved her staff, and the surrounding rubble transformed into shackles, firmly fixing the tyrant's feet in place.

"Surtr, Mudrock, watch out for the two-horned beast."

Kal'tsit issued commands as she ran towards Vayne. With her knowledge and experience, discerning the enemy's identity during a battle with the bicorns wasn't difficult. Moreover, Zu's self-destruction amidst the collapsed building ruins made even those unfamiliar with bicorns aware of the feud between them and Victoria. Of those present, Patriot couldn't control so many bicorns alone, and the bicorns, naturally resistant to Originium Arts and possessing thick hides, were largely immune to Logos's spells. Only the combination of Surtr and Mudrock, those godlike lava giants, could truly suppress the bicorns.

In fact, without Surtr and Mudrock's assistance, Kal'tsit was certain that even if she and Mon3tr went all out, assisting Patriot and Frostnova in battle, dealing with so many enemies would have been an unpredictable outcome. With Surtr and Mudrock, it was like the West gaining Jerusalem; the entire team was much more complete. Even though it wasn't the first time she'd witnessed their combined power, Kal'tsit couldn't help but marvel. She was quite confident entrusting the task of protecting the remnants of the Direhorn army to them.

Reaching Vayne's side, Kal'tsit finally noticed how Vayne had suddenly drawn that mysterious ice greatsword. Gazing at the Ten Rings still glowing red, Kal'tsit wanted to reprimand Vayne for his reckless actions, but she couldn't bring herself to speak.

This was quite different from her usual self. In the past, no matter the situation, if Wayne's judgment or choice was flawed, Kal'tsit would be the first to correct him. And Wayne would gladly accept the advice of this experienced senior. It was like an unspoken understanding between them. But this time was different. Wayne had indeed recklessly used the Ten Commandments, which were forbidden to anyone but a Demon Lord, but...

"Is Theresa alright?"

"Wayne asked. Kal'tsit turned to look at Theresa, who was being bandaged by Warfarin. After withstanding a god's attack, it was absolutely impossible for her to emerge unscathed; Theresa's injuries were far more severe than Wayne's. If it weren't for the fact that magical creations maintained by mental energy are impossible to shatter with sufficient mental energy, Theresa might have faced the perilous situation of her weapon breaking and her having to take the punch from the Ancestor with her bare body. Fortunately, thanks to Wayne's long-term care and nurturing, Theresa withstood the most intense wave of attacks. Apart from being unable to wield her sword for a short time and falling into a coma due to severe mental energy depletion, she was otherwise unharmed."

Kal'tsit nodded slightly to Wayne:

"Princess Theresa is alright, Prince Wayne, you have kept your promise."

Once, at a banquet in the Londinium court, Wayne and Kal'tsit made a promise that no matter what, he would always stand by Theresa's side and protect her. Perhaps the unintentional might dismiss it as baseless vows made by lovers, but Kal'tsit always remembered and kept his promises. And this time, he witnessed Wayne fulfilling his promise.

Reckless, yes, why not be reckless? The way to keep a promise is often brutal and reckless. After all, in the most critical moments, there isn't much time for you to carefully plan everything.

“I didn’t just do it to keep my promise,” Wayne laughed.

Kal'tsit pursed her lips, feeling both relieved and heartbroken, her heart inexplicably filled with a sense of security.

She let out a long sigh, suppressing the joy, satisfaction, worry, and all sorts of emotions within her. She looked up at the gray-haired Carter, who was trying to escape but was stopped by Logos. Wayne called her "Atrocity."

It sounds like a code name, but real name isn't the most important thing.

Kal'tsit stepped down from the ruins and walked step by step toward the direction of the atrocities.

The gray-haired girl, Katarina, suddenly panicked. Whether it was because the Originium behemoth following Kal'tsit was too terrifying, or because the series of battles that had just occurred were too shocking, Katarina's face almost changed to an expression of despair and impending death.

Seeing the hostage, whom she had rescued at such great cost, give her such an expression, Kal'tsit couldn't help but shake her head with a wry smile, uttering those slightly heavy words:

"I'm sorry, Miss Violence, for dragging you into our affairs."

"Don't worry, you're safe now."

The panicked expression on the violent girl's face suddenly froze. Before the eyes of everyone in the Tower of Babel, the gray-haired girl's face displayed a series of complex expressions—a series so complex it was hard to imagine a single person could conjure up in just a few minutes—fleetingly bewildered look, the terror of having nowhere to go, and the joy of surviving a catastrophe. Finally, she lowered her head, drooped her ears, and began to sob softly.

Even when faced with the intimidation of the demon cultists and the threat of the two-horned beasts, the girl, who had never shown the slightest fear, finally lost control of her emotions after hearing the word "safety" as if from another world.

At the same time, Kroos was also unable to suppress her emotions in the distance.

The Sarkaz Youth of the Year, who loves drinking engine oil, was fiddling with his little bat, trying to contact SilverAsh and the others to quickly come and clean up the mess. But he suddenly discovered something very serious and quietly approached Wayne.

"Um, Paradox Boss, it seems like Rembiton is offline."

"If the internet is down, just switch to a different Wi-Fi network, right?...Wait, where did the internet go down?"

"The entire Rembitox network is down. Not just the intercity network, but also telephones and radios are silent," Kroos said, sounding somewhat frightened. "Rembitox is completely cut off from the outside world; it's like an isolated island..."

Wayne was startled and asked incredulously, "Who did this?"

P.S.: One more chapter, one more page. See you at 4 PM, brothers.

PS2: Xi's new cheongsam is so colorful! It's even more colorful than last year's. I'm already looking forward to next year's cheongsam.

But then again, does Ling not have a full-sleeve tattoo, or is it covered by that long glove? No way, a life without a full-sleeve tattoo is soulless!

Chapter 122 The Awakening of the Gods

Victoria, Lentinium – Temporary Office for the Rembitox Tranquility Incident.

Vina sat at the head of the table. This time, there was no Theresa to offer guidance, no Kal'tsit to provide support, and no Wayne to provide support. She was alone, as Queen Victoria, facing the assembled court alone. This time, she was truly alone. Even the seats of her two closest allies, Grand Marshal Ernest and the Bell Ringer Winston, were vacant. At this time, Ernest was in the North, mobilizing troops for the annual mountain-crossing campaign against the Northern Demons. This used to be the responsibility of the King of the North, handled by the Northern Royal Palace. But now, with no possibility of a second King of the North in Victoria, this matter naturally fell to the central government of Londinium, with Ernest personally overseeing the operation.

Upon learning of Rembiton's news, Ernest had already begun to postpone the campaign, hand over his duties, and head back to Lentinium. Meanwhile, Winster had just disembarked in Letania and was on his way to the Victorian embassy in Letania to prepare for a remote meeting with Lentinium; he might not be able to attend on time.

To say she wasn't nervous at all would be a lie. From the day she became Queen, Vina had many thoughts in her mind. Publicly, she wanted to work for the well-being of the people of Victoria, just like her brother, to promote the economic development of Victoria, and even to lead Victoria into another golden age of rapid development. But once she was actually in this position, she realized just how difficult the so-called reforms were. So much so that even her intelligent brother, Wayne, often had to resort to the most undesirable and dishonorable means of violence to suppress the troublesome resistance from vested interests.

But what did tension matter at this moment? This weak emotion had long been buried by the anxiety in Vina's heart. Compared to meaningless tension, she was more concerned about the situation of Vayne, who was far away in Rembiton.

When the modern internet is cut off, people realize how far apart they truly are. Realizing that her blood relative might be in danger, Vina desperately wanted to immediately travel to Sigraine and reach Wayne by air.

But she knew that acting impulsively wouldn't solve the problem, and even if she went there in a spaceship, she couldn't change the fact that a cataclysmic event like the Great Tranquility had already occurred. Rather than acting rashly, what she needed to do now was to stay in the command center, ensure Victoria remained calm, and then immediately plan the rescue operation for Wayne and the others.

"The purpose of this emergency meeting is probably already known to everyone. Right now, this news has reached the highest level of attention across the entire Terra Intercity Network—Rembiton has lost contact."

"A nation encompassing three large mobile city-states, over ten medium-sized mobile cities, and dozens or even hundreds of settlements and villages—the entire mining region of Terra—suddenly and completely lost contact with the outside world around 6 PM today. The social media activity on Rembiton plummeted, dropping from a normal level to zero within minutes. Simultaneously, all means of external communication, including but not limited to mobile phones, landlines, city networks, and radio, have become unreachable. This situation is incredibly bizarre, but it's not the first time such a disaster has occurred in Terra's history. The last nation to suffer a similar calamity is called Iberia. That calamity is known as the Great Tranquility."

Vina briefly outlined the meeting's main points before getting straight to the point:

"Given Victoria's rapid development in recent years, and Lentinium's five-year plan for Victoria's future development, we cannot afford to lose Rembitox, a major source of minerals. This meeting is convened to formulate a rescue and assistance plan for Rembitox. Now, please share your opinions."

Vina didn't mention that Vayne was in Rembiton. An emperor cannot afford to be held accountable by his subjects, especially when the emperor makes demands of them. Some politicians might call this mutual manipulation a way to maintain a healthy balance and trust between ruler and subject, but in reality, it's merely the beginning of bureaucratic corruption and decay.

To be a truly excellent emperor, the first thing you must learn is to appear flawless. No one is perfect, that's common sense, but the wisdom lies in knowing how to play to your strengths and minimize your weaknesses so that others perceive you as perfect.

Immediately after Vina granted permission to speak, objections were raised. Baron Spike, one of the Royalist leaders after the reorganization of Parliament, advised:

“But Your Majesty, the annual campaign against the Northern Demons is about to begin. Victoria has already entered a state of war preparedness. Wouldn’t halting mobilization now be a waste of vast resources? Moreover, it’s not just Victoria that’s affected by the Rembito disaster. Ursus, Letania, Kazimir, and even the Great Yan Kingdom are much closer. Surely the relief efforts aren’t more urgent than ours?”