Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

"I thought you'd continue fighting with Ex? What, getting bored?" Patchouli sipped her red tea, chatting casually while assessing the situation in this world—she had roughly foreseen three possible developments for this continent. First, if everything remained unchanged, the continent would soon descend into chaos and war. Second, if Zheng Zha's Dao Erosion phenomenon was allowed to develop on this continent, it would experience a military resurgence, rapidly growing into a mid-level martial arts world and progressing towards high-level martial arts.

Thirdly, this releases her own Dao erosion, which will lead to the rise of the demonic path on this continent. The revival magic that she, as a witch, couldn't achieve even with her own painstaking efforts back then can now be accomplished with just a thought. This fact makes her feel both bored and uninterested.

"It's so boring. Anyway, she can't beat me and I can't beat her. She can't kill me and I can't kill her either. Continuing is just a piece of trash and a waste of time. I might as well save my energy, deal with it while I find a place to relax and have a vacation." Sirin shrugged, stretched, and reached out her hand. Theresa, whom she had been protecting, appeared out of thin air and jumped into her arms—she nuzzled her face against her contentedly.

Patchouli felt a long-lost sense of envy and jealousy. She felt she also needed to cuddle with Alice, but unfortunately, she knew Alice was too busy to be by her side. So she could only mold her envy and jealousy into candy, put it into a cup of black tea, and drink it.

Well, at least this makes black tea more flavorful.

"You're such a lazy bum, Miss Sirin." Patchouli glanced at Sirin's hand, which had unconsciously reached under Theresa's skirt, causing the latter to blush and pull out a giant crucifix to beat the dog's head. For a moment, Patchouli really wanted to help Miss Theresa attach the weight of a galaxy to the crucifix. However, after thinking about it, she decided to give up. After all, that would only increase the interaction between these two idiots, and she would have even more headaches later.

“Absolutely remarkable, a once-in-a-lifetime achievement.” — Patchouli repeated emphatically.

"Thank you for the compliment, it's the best compliment I can receive." However, Celine simply smiled and accepted it, then unceremoniously steered the conversation to another topic.

"How long do you plan to stay here?" She shifted her position, continuing to hug Theresa, whose face was flushed and who was too shy to speak, her gaze becoming slightly serious. "This war won't last long, but it won't end quickly either. And some ambitious guys in the team might need your help."

"I will stay until Alice wakes up, until the Demon Squad makes their move," Patchouli replied calmly.

Sirin glanced at the colorless stars that had crossed the boundary and were already approaching the stage. "You mean...those?"

“No.” Patchouli shook her head slightly. “I’m talking about another me, another Alice. And perhaps a few other acquaintances that you or I know very well… Although I don’t know what scheme Chu Xuan has devised… no, he and his clone must have used a deal to keep them out of the loop. But when everything comes to an end, all the agreements and deals will cease to exist. Apart from the clone Zheng Zha, who is likely to be specifically targeted and restricted, all the other reincarnators will take action.”

"That will be the most intense and complex part of the war. And before that moment arrives..."

She lightly tapped the ground with her toes, choosing one of the three paths mentioned above for this continent.

"This land will be an important strategic node."

Chapter 82 The War in Heaven: The Necessary Price

At this moment, in the eighth reality, on the northern land of Mesopotamia.

When the secrets beyond the stars were fully exposed to the eyes of mortals, Flora, as Alice... the agent of Mangtlund, had no choice but to teleport to the city of Imanitic that she had built, and use her power and aura to suppress the panic that was spreading throughout the city.

"...It all happened in the end."

She gazed at the sky, which had been torn open by a massive rift, staring at the enormous fissure that stretched deep into the starry sky—she could see layers upon layers of spatial faults irregularly distributed around the rift valley, and within each fissure, a fierce battle raged, as if it were a bloody war in the abyss.

This is common knowledge; every magician apprentice should know that countless otherworldly realms exist both outside and inside Earth. They are usually named Fairy Garden, Lower World, Fantasy Realm, or Inner Sea of ​​Stars. These are fault planes that can provide many rare familiars and even serve as the source of magic. However, in the past, no magician has ever attempted to observe those otherworldly realms, because that would be suicidal; the differences in the rules between these worlds would render such an adventure worthless.

—Until now.

—Until the flames of war that sweep across the galaxy ignite, until the Earth is split into eight, until the theory of a spherical Earth is denied and the world returns to a flat Earth, until the bands of light in the sky and the phenomenon of the burning of human reason are completely extinguished, so that the human world can accept this true trial.

“Mangotlund, you… are truly a cruel god,” the girl murmured to herself. Turning her gaze, she could see the other seven floating continents as if they were the moon. Four of them were now shrouded in layers of grotesque and indiscernible natural changes, and the plight of the creatures on them was self-evident.

Mangold no longer responded to her, but Mangold's power and wisdom still flowed within her. She knew it was the terrifying power known as the Dao Erosion phenomenon, and she knew that the reason she couldn't see clearly was because a powerful being had interfered with the categories, obstructing the vision of mortals. And that powerful being was definitely not Mangold, who had given her the power.

She wasn't aware of Mangtlund's true power, but she could sense that the divine power surging within her was on par with the destructive tides of the intergalactic war. She could tell that the powerful being who had granted her divine power hadn't participated in this world-sweeping event, because it didn't align with its stance.

Mangotlund is a god under scrutiny.

It is judging the value held by humanity and ultimately determining their fate.

"If humanity can gain your favor, then at least it has the value of being protected by you? But faced with a test paper that has no right answers and no grid lines, what should we do, and to what extent, to shake your stance?"

There was no answer, and she knew there couldn't be one.

Large swarms of invisible messengers circled around, carrying back a wealth of information from this land to her side.

She learned many things: that King Gilgamesh and Merlin had successfully suppressed the clay figure named Enkidu, who was actually Kingu, and the serpent god beside him. She knew that Fujimaru Ritsuka and his group had returned from the secret land of Ur, which she herself could not fathom, and had used an unknown ritual to bring Ishtar and Ereshkigal to the world simultaneously—they seemed to want to hold a meeting, but the location of this meeting did not seem to be in the temple of Uruk.

Flora closed her eyes and began to think.

[Fujimaru Ritsuka went to Ur... The rift in the sky was released from the south... They displayed abilities beyond my expectations and took extraordinary actions... I see. Although it shouldn't be her responsibility, she must be the one who pulled the trigger for this war...]

[My descendant, someone I've always admired... you must have encountered an ancient god of equal rank to Mangtlund in Ur. And from Him you learned the truth of the world—yes, choosing or not choosing both means death, so pulling the trigger at least gives you some control. If I were in your shoes, I would have done the same.]

[And if it were me, what would I do next...?]

She opened her eyes, her gaze instinctively turning towards the distant east. That was where the ocean lay, and Tiamat, the primordial creator of this land, slumbered beneath its surface. And if it weren't for these ancient gods—she didn't yet know that the reincarnators should more accurately be called otherworldly gods—launching this war, then sealing and even annihilating Tiamat would have been the next objective that Flora and the people of Chaldea would have to achieve.

"...Fujimaru Ritsuka will unite all forces that can be united, and then try to gather everyone's strength to overcome this difficult hurdle. Tiamat will become her target, and apart from that mother goddess, perhaps I am also within her sphere of influence."

“No, I might not be there.” She gently shook her head again. “Whether she comes to Imanitics depends on the information given to her by the otherworldly god she comes into contact with. To those ancient gods of the same level as Mangotlund, my identity is not exactly a secret. But how I will be regarded… is hard to say.”

"Tsk, as if I know exactly what I am!"

The girl exhaled softly, and with a flick of her toes, she teleported directly to the top of Imanitic. The next moment, the entire colossal steel city shook violently!

"My people!" Her voice resounded throughout the city.

"The day of destruction is coming, but you must not give up hope." — On the wide street, the Imanis people, who had barely escaped their panic under the goddess's comfort but were still uneasy, subconsciously raised their heads and looked towards the highest point of this fortified city — they should have seen the tragic crack in the sky and the burning starry sky, but the goddess's radiance emanated from the top tower, obscuring all the sights from beyond the heavens.

Those who gaze at the stars will be gazed upon by the stars.

Therefore, even when you look up, you should not leave room in your eyes to hold the stars.

"For I will protect you, for you will be bathed in God's glory!"

Her power release limit is rising rapidly, breaking through the 40% mark in the blink of an eye, and it is still rising higher and higher!

The next moment, the strange phenomenon of lightning and fire intertwining appeared on all the Imanis!

Some screamed, some panicked, but many more found new hope in their calm. These strange phenomena did not harm them but became a barrier around them. And with the appearance of this barrier, the sense of crisis—the impending distortion of one's own existence and origin that had previously lurked deep within the souls of all living beings—was silently erased.

The phenomenon of Dao Erosion... The phenomenon of Dao Erosion can also be seen as influence, authority, and divine pressure. It is a compromise made by heaven, earth, and all things to adapt to the will of the true god. And the only way to deal with it is to use another layer of Dao Erosion that does not spread as armor, thus serving as a protective barrier!

The next moment, cheers and cries of relief rang out from every corner of the city. The gloom that had been weighing on the hearts of the citizens vanished, and with the appearance of those glamorous war angels, the previously somber atmosphere of the city began to rise sharply.

Public support is valuable.

But simply being usable is not enough.

With the further unleashing of its power limits, the erosion phenomenon, which directly distorts reality, arose directly beneath the bottom of this colossal mechanical city. The floating city project, which originally required a long construction period, was instantly brought to its final stages. Dozens, even hundreds, of war angels, each possessing god-level servant combat power, rapidly manifested from the underground secret factory and quickly devoted their power to various hidden and crucial positions.

'Boom—Bang—!'

Rocks crashed against the ground, and clods of earth collapsed on a massive scale. Before the very eyes of these hundreds of thousands of Imanitian inhabitants, the entire Imanitian city rose into the air, violently changing, distorting, and deforming, extending numerous gravity wells and deflection fields from its base—carrying nearly one-hundredth of a ton of material away from the earth and rapidly twisting and transforming it. This resulted in the continuous expansion of the entire floating city!

The Sky City cuts through the floating clouds.

The goddess's voice continued to echo throughout the city.

"Return, my people. Your lives and will are under my protection—return to your posts and increase the production capacity of the factories. For I am Mangtlund, and I will extend my protection to many places across many lands!"

Her radiance reached its peak in that instant, and all life covered by her radiance gained an unexpected enthusiasm and hope—the mortals cheered and returned to their factories and workshops, dedicating their strength with hope. The goddess's radiance then spread outward, transforming into a solid and pure barrier that covered every part of the floating city.

And so, the brilliance dimmed, but the dimming of the brilliance did not extinguish even a glimmer of hope in this city.

Flora, the goddess, gracefully descended into her temple and floated onto her divine throne.

She saw her trusted follower waiting for her alone in the inner sanctum of the temple, casting a look of heartfelt care and affection upon seeing her.

So she smiled and reached out her hand to Ba.

However, the next moment, she saw her outstretched hand break and crack, with many fragments of tissue constantly transforming between flesh, bones, gears, and threads falling haphazardly!

"Goddess!?"—She heard Ba's exclamation, but she no longer saw her. Because at this moment, only one thing filled her mind.

Power Unleashed: 51%

Ah... this is the necessary price.

Chapter 83: The War of Heaven - The Call to Arms

Flora's first action was to unleash all her invisible messengers, creating a barrier of search and scrutiny. She needed to ensure that nothing, living or dead, except for Ba, could witness this—she was a goddess, and a goddess could not show vulnerability in such a situation. If anyone saw the goddess's vulnerability, she could only ensure that person would never speak again.

Fortunately, she didn't have to do such a cruel thing. There were no outsiders in her temple, which gave her a slight sense of relief.

Killing and erasing memories are neither good things, and she wouldn't like to let such things happen in the kingdom she protects unless there's no other way—she recalled the unseen messengers that roamed around, and at that moment, a panicked Ba was holding her broken arm and bringing it to the stump—

"Flora! Your hand—"

She reached out her other hand and pressed it against Ba's shoulder.

“It’s nothing serious, just a normal phenomenon from overusing power.” Flora smiled and shook her head. Her gaze focused on the severed arm, and the next moment, the broken area rapidly sprouted fully formed bone and flesh. “In fact, to wield divine power with such a small price to pay, in a sense, it’s practically a freebie.”

“But…” Ba looked at her with continued concern. “This should be the first time something like this has happened…”

“Once you’ve had the first experience, you’ll be more experienced the second time.” Flora patted her on the shoulder, gesturing for her to stand up so she could get up from her seat. “That’s a good thing, and these little things are insignificant in the bigger picture.”

"The bigger picture?" Bayiyan stood up, but still helped her walk outside. The direction she and Flora were heading was behind the throne of divine authority, where a large, independent balcony, in line with the temple's decorative style of this era, was located.

“Yes, the situation has changed.” Flora replied calmly. She did not refuse Ba’s help, but instead went with Ba to the viewing area on the detached balcony. From here, one could clearly see the entire city of Imanitis, dominated by steel and machinery. Then, the golden glow of the city and the thick clouds cut through the outer edge of the city came into view in one’s mind.

The stars in the sky twinkled in that abyss, countless spatial rifts already engulfed by the boiling flames of war—Flora knew that those otherworldly realms actually had another identity—they were divine kingdoms, not divine kingdoms in the broad sense of the multiverse, but the divine kingdoms of this world. The Earth gods who sank into the inner sea of ​​stars slumbered in those kingdoms that magicians called otherworldly realms, and then they all faced the flames of extinction in their slumber.

All the gods will die like ants and ashes.

In the war to come, mortals will not gain any more allies.

"Did you see that, Ba? The light band has disappeared. Now, all the singularities have become independent worlds." Flora said calmly, "This means that the matter of the incineration of humanity has been refuted, and at the same time, it also means that the matter of restoring humanity has become meaningless waste."

"My lady goddess..."

"Don't try to comfort me, Ba. I'm not that weak." The girl's lips curled slightly as she manipulated her will, adjusting the direction of this city in the clouds. Her goal was to the southeast, but with a slight detour, avoiding the area above Uruk and heading towards the sea.

—Although I don't know what kind of meeting those guys are going to have, I'd better get things done before they do. Otherwise, I'll get entangled with them and have to waste time doing nothing.

"Human order no longer needs repair, nor can it be repaired. But this does not mean that my journey ends here—the main purpose of my attempt to repair human order is to get the broken world running again. And now that the world has become like this, I intend to make 'getting the world through this war and still being able to continue to function' my new goal."

She tilted her head and glanced at her servant with a mischievous look.

"I'm going to save the world."

She immediately received a response from the servant.

"Ba will always be with you, as your sharpest blade, as your henchman. My Goddess."

“Oh, that’s no easy task.” Flora reached out and patted Ba, who had unconsciously knelt on one knee during the oath, on the shoulder to signal her to stand up. “Because I’m not just saving Mesopotamia. I’m saving all the Singularities, and all the inhabitants within them. And to do that, I need to fulfill two prerequisites.”

“First,” she said, holding up one finger. “I need to enable mortals to move freely across the battlefield, unharmed by the corrosive phenomenon. And that can be accomplished with the divine power I possess.”

“Secondly, I want to transform Imanitis into a colossal ark capable of operating in space and continuously expanding its size. And this will require the assistance of a certain lady.” She turned her head, looking at the vast, pulsating ocean beyond the clouds. The next moment, a spatial jump silently brought this enormous fortress to life on the sea!

"You mean Tiamat?" Ba turned around following her gaze and looked at the sea below the city. Her spirit origin, which had been strengthened several times, gave her the power to see through magic, allowing her to easily see through the huge illusion barrier that the magician Merlin had cast on the surface of the ocean!

“Yes, Tiamat.” Flora nodded, took Ba’s hand, and flew into the air. The two transformed into a golden streak of light, descending from the vast city in the clouds amidst the cheers and worship of the Imanitians. While in mid-air, Flora deftly extended a finger, as if wiping away a speck of dust, and Merlin’s protection vanished!

And in an instant, the azure sea turned pitch black!

“I’ve come to see you, Tiamat. I’m here to negotiate.” Flora landed lightly on the black mud-covered sea with Ba, and the next moment, countless black mud creatures, those things called 'Rahm', suddenly appeared from the deep sea and thrust out sharp blades and claws at her!

And the next second, they all came to a complete stop in mid-air.

“I don’t want to waste time, nor do I want to kill your child. I can understand you, unlike Fujimaru Ritsuka who couldn’t understand your will and could only seal you away. But if you really refuse to communicate, then I will have no choice but to resort to some extreme measures.”