I don't want to conquer witches anymore.

Chapter 424 The New God

Savior.

Savior.

Savior.

Countless prayers flowed into Duke's heart through the power of his thoughts.

He closed his eyes, feeling the impact of these ideas on him.

If the influence of ideology on the gods is only at the level of power, it will have virtually no impact on Duke—after all, he has never relied on his own strength to get to where he is today, but rather on the tools provided by the Star Chart System and his trustworthy partners.

But obviously not. These ideas will subtly influence his judgment, and even affect his thinking ability and logical patterns.

The cacophony of prayers converged, and the shared desires formed a powerful force that directly influenced Duke's thoughts. Under the influence of his faith, Duke could no longer think about anything else; only one thing remained—"to become the savior and save the floating city."

“No wonder not many top legends want to become gods; the restrictions are too great.” Duke opened his eyes and gave a faint wry smile. “However, it’s not like there aren’t loopholes to exploit.”

The main quest of "becoming a savior and saving the floating city" remains unchanged; it is merely the foundation upon which Duke ascends to godhood. If he makes a choice contrary to this, Duke will be shattered to pieces by the overwhelming tide of thought and perish. Moreover, given the extent to which gods are swayed by faith, Duke doesn't even possess the capacity to entertain the thought of "abandoning the salvation of the floating city."

However, he can break down the desires of an idea, find the branches that can be used for free action, and then act based on his own interpretation.

Defeating the Hand of the Evil God is naturally for the purpose of saving the Floating City. Close contact with Amber, which pleases him, will naturally accelerate the progress of the main quest "Saving the Floating City"... As long as Duke stacks his armor thick enough and his boasting becomes believable even to himself, he can break free from the limitations of this main quest and reach a completely new realm—where everything he does is on the path to saving the Floating City.

However, Duke ultimately didn't have the audacity to do that. Even with self-hypnosis, he couldn't convince himself that kissing Amber was also for the sake of saving the floating city... But perhaps after he's been a god for a while, he'll get used to this opportunistic approach.

This is perhaps a required course for every deity.

Duke smiled and shook his head, then strode quickly toward the sky, toward the sky where the hand of the evil god was located.

The Little Prince's death did not stop the invasion from other dimensions. On the contrary, it was like opening Pandora's box. With her death, all the darkness that was originally hidden in the mini planet was released in an instant. A large number of other dimensions established links with the floating city in one go, creating a large amount of spatial fluctuations.

Although the Little Prince had long been corrupted by the constant invasions from other dimensions and turned into the black prince who was full of malice towards everything in the world, when she first created that miniature planet, it was not to destroy the floating city, but to save it. She felt that these invasions from other dimensions were all because of her, and as long as she took responsibility for everything, the floating city she built and the people living on it could live happily ever after.

Therefore, although this floating city is the original, the intensity of the interdimensional invasion is lower than that of another floating city in a parallel world. The residents here are even able to try to understand and utilize the world rules of the interdimensional space.

But the Little Prince was wrong.

First, her taking on everything wouldn't make the residents of the floating city happy. As long as humans remain humans, a city with a clear hierarchy will never create a happy world where everyone is content. Second, the Little Prince underestimated his own capacity to cope; he simply couldn't withstand the constant invasions from other dimensions, and being corrupted was only a matter of time.

Although she occupies a divine position, she cannot ignite the divine fire... However, the Little Prince has indeed been the guardian deity of the floating city for the past thousand years, and the council members, led by the council chairman, believe in the Little Prince, which Duke cannot fail to understand.

She is, in fact, the ancient god of the floating city.

But the old gods have fallen, and new gods shall rise.

With a thought, Duke appeared before the Hand of the Evil God, his toes touching one of its fingers. His only previous assessment of the Hand of the Evil God was its sheer size; otherwise, he felt almost nothing. The oppressive aura emanating from the Little Prince and the miniature planet made the Hand of the Evil God seem less powerful.

Now, Duke can sense its level of strength—and the facts are largely in line with his previous assessment.

"It's alright, but that's about it."

After his suicide attempt, the Little Prince was too weak. Despite being a top-tier legend, with a legendary destiny powerful enough to create a mini-planet, he couldn't even defeat this outwardly strong but inwardly weak evil god. If it were the powerful new god Duke…

With a slight push of his toes, the Starry Divine Fire burst forth, igniting Duke's right foot as he exerted force. With a heavy stomp, he crushed the fingers of the evil god's hand before him—mud-like blood exploded outwards, but the evil god's blood that approached Duke was evaporated by the divine fire, not even touching the hem of Duke's clothes.

The evil god's hand struggled in pain, its remaining four fingers suddenly exerting force and twisting violently, seemingly trying to pull the rest of its body out of the void and reveal its complete form in the prime plane. But how could Duke allow it to enter the prime plane?

In the sight of all living beings in the floating city, he took another step and instantly arrived at an even higher altitude. Then he stretched out his hands, intertwined his ten fingers in front of his chest, and made a complex spell-casting gesture.

What is the concept of divine magic?

It's less a "magic trick" and more a "miracle."

The spells used by traditional spellcasters are all based on sound reasoning. Every spellcaster can explain the principles behind their spells in a fluent and logical manner. After all, the essence of a spellcaster is that of a scholar seeking knowledge, even legendary spellcasters. Perhaps their legendary destiny seems like a "miracle" to others, but for them, the principle behind the effectiveness of their legendary destiny is very clear.

Even the Scarlet Lady, who is known as the "Witch of Miracles," can understand how she accomplished those miracles—it's just that others simply cannot understand it.

In fact, the only way for a legend to improve themselves is to continuously study their legendary destiny. Every time they understand the essence of their legendary destiny better, their legendary strength will also improve.

The miracles of the gods are not legendary decrees, but things that even the gods themselves cannot understand. They are true black boxes, powers released by the gods in response to the prayers and wishes of their believers.

Just like the will of the gods themselves, they are all things that are carried forward by believers.

"But it really works very well."

Duke smacked his lips and clapped his hands lightly.

Then, the divine fire ignited the hand of the evil god.

Amidst the cheers of the inhabitants of the floating city.

The new god of the floating city easily destroyed the evil god who attempted to invade it.

Chapter 425 Forty-Four Sunsets

The inhabitants of the floating city cheered for the new god.

The evil god and its retinue withdrew from the prime plane.

A fervent emotion permeated the flow of thought.

Duke squinted, feeling the immense power that came with the increase in believers.

However, the situation in the floating city did not improve; instead, it worsened.

The floating city had transformed into what was once a miniature planet, and the speed at which the sun, moon, and stars appeared to change within it gradually accelerated. The sun rose and set rapidly, and then the moon and stars took its place.

In the miniature planet, the Little Prince could see the sunset up to forty-four times a day—that was the result of the Little Prince, who loved sunsets the most, carrying a stool and chasing the sun like Kuafu.

But at this point, the floating city probably doesn't need to chase the sun to see more than forty-four sunsets in a 24-hour day.

In the short few minutes that Duke annihilated the Hand of the Evil God, the sun, moon, and stars had already completed a cycle.

Just like what happened in the previous mini planet, every time day and night change, the alien dimension will brutally invade the floating city, either trapping the strange world rules in the floating city or dragging terrifying monsters to the floating city. If the previous floating city was already the end of the world, the current floating city is pure hell.

No one can predict when death will occur. Even powerful professionals are few and far between when faced with the unpredictable and random rules of the world. Unless they are legendary professionals with a legendary destiny and their own set of world rules, even those who are near-legendary (without a legendary destiny) or heroes must succumb to certain instant-death world rules.

The rate of death is increasing.

And the number of believers in the "savior" is increasing.

All the inhabitants of the floating city witnessed the miracle Duke had just performed, and they all knew Duke's divine name and even his real name... When life becomes a luxury and death is within reach... even the most staunch atheist will try to save the day by grasping at the last straw of praying to the gods.

As the number of believers increased, so did the fervor of the faith, and Duke's power grew stronger.

He snapped his fingers, responding to what the people of the floating city longed for. In an instant, countless clones appeared, landing beside every citizen of the floating city. These clones became the citizens' talismans, standing up to protect them from deadly attacks and even launching attacks against those ferocious monsters when danger came.

But this is still just a drop in the ocean.

Becoming a god won't save the floating city.

Duke quickly understood this principle: when the end of the interdimensional link came, the guardian of the floating city could not save it; he could not do it, and the mute people probably could not do it either.

The floating city is already bound to the fate of destruction... The gods themselves were born from this city, so how can they resist the city's destiny?

The method by which amber will be found in the future is definitely not "becoming a god".

But Duke is not omnipotent. He couldn't figure out how to save the floating city. Even if he called himself the "savior" and became the guardian of the floating city, he still couldn't save this city that was already terminally ill.

Not to mention, the gods born from this city have natural flaws.

As time went on in his godhood, the influence of the two completely contradictory ideologies on Duke gradually became apparent. He felt as if his soul and humanity were being forcibly torn apart by two enormous forces, almost splitting him into two completely different and opposing people.

Both groups were screaming "Savior, save us!" But after being saved, their thoughts were completely different. One side longed for the floating city to return to its original state so that they could regain their privileged status, while the other side, in a desperate move, hoped for the restoration of order and sincerely wished for the former group to die out.

The irreconcilable divide between the surface and underground of the floating city directly affected the gods born from it.

Savior!

Savior!

Savior!

Duke clutched his forehead, feeling as if his head was about to explode amidst the screams and cries for help from his followers. The clones he had released were simply not enough; the divinity gradually taking shape within him was urging the humanity controlling his body to act further. Urged on by the divinity, Duke took a step forward.

This time, he arrived in the floating city, stepped atop the most arrogant monster, and with a slight exertion of his foot, crushed the monster's body, rescuing the praying believers. The next instant, he appeared on another street, grasped the core of the world's rules with both hands, and easily crushed the world's rules—which were about to kill more than twenty people—into dust.

Driven by his divine inspiration, Duke began to travel.

Rescue people.

Rescue people.

Rescue people.

The sun and moon change in the sky.

More and more alternate dimensions are invading the floating city.

Duke's humanity gradually became lost in the tides of thought and the powerful divinity.

The savior tirelessly traversed the streets of the floating city, saving everyone equally.

Duke... gradually ceased to be Duke himself. His soul seemed to transcend, watching himself act under divine guidance from a godlike perspective, calmly observing the people he had saved, and rationally feeling the two opposing forces tearing him apart.

What are you waiting for?

Duke didn't turn around because he knew who was asking him the question at that moment.

Ida.

The mute still retains a few remnants of humanity and most of their divinity within their bodies, and after Duke became a god, she was the only one who could still speak to him.

“I am waiting for the right moment,” Duke replied softly, looking down at the souls of the mortal world, then looked up at the sky. “There have been thirty-seven sunsets already.”

"so what?"

"Seven more to go until forty-four... oh, six more."

The speed at which the sun, moon, and stars change is getting faster and faster; even as they converse, the sun and moon continue to change.

Ida still didn't understand Duke's meaning. Her memories were not shared with the Ida outside, but even the Ida outside didn't know what Duke was thinking.

“These changes of the sun and moon are the last hint the Little Prince left me.” Duke’s voice sounded emotionless, cold and mechanical. “After the forty-fourth sunset, it will be time for me to act.”

"So, what exactly do you want?" Ida sighed and countered, "Don't you want to know what I'm after in helping you become a god?"

“The Floating City and Carol need a god, either you or me… and you don’t want to become a god anymore, do you?”

"...How did you figure that out? I thought I hid it very well." Ida's lips twitched slightly. "I've been saying all along that I want to become a god again, haven't I?"

“You’re clearly mute, so why are you always making noise?” Duke glanced at her. “It’s about what you do, not what you say—you escaped to this parallel world, became an ordinary person who can speak, and gave up the divinity you gained from the Little Mermaid world. You escaped from my body, abandoning most of your divinity. And in the end, you even tried your best to help me become a god… Judging from these actions, you don’t want to become a god at all.”

Ida stared at Duke in disbelief for several seconds before shaking her head and saying, "Okay, you guessed right."