A dull longsword and a heartbroken villager

It was only because of some "small" things that He underwent a minor change.

He hates Heaven, but He chooses to treat His own kind kindly, hoping to see some of the angelic children who haven't yet turned to dust, and then protect them.

In heaven, everyone makes mistakes, or you could say no one is wrong.

Joshua could only do the things his wife used to like.

His wife would tell him that she enjoyed divination, and that if Joshua wanted to learn, he would teach him.

The wife would go and tell Him that she was very curious about the world below and asked Joshua to tell her about things beyond Heaven.

The wife would tell Him that everyone is actually a good person, but they are bound by something unseen. In the shadow of the tilting holy mountain, a human and an angel gaze at each other.

One was a not-so-intelligent human, and the other was an extremely intelligent angel.

Joshua was merely using Bray to restore the Holy Mountain's energy.

And Bray only took the job because of the pay.

There was no affection involved, no complicated relationship between the two.

That's precisely why Joshua was able to tell Bray all this so openly, without any reservations.

The sandstorms in the desert churned and swirled, constantly trying to swallow the massive sacred mountain.

Bray brushed the sand off his thighs and stood up.

He has heard Joshua's story.

I have no particular feelings about it; I just remembered the story of a stranger.

Bray glanced at Joshua with his right eye and noticed that Joshua's expression was also very calm.

It's a little hard to imagine that the past version of himself that Joshua described was like that.

“I will not comment on your story.” Regardless of whether Joshua’s story is true or false, Bray will not judge whether it is tragic or happy.

“I don’t like bronze-class,” Bray said.

“I could never be friends with an angel,” he continued.

Every word Bray uttered was exactly as Joshua had anticipated.

“I could tell from your eyes.” Joshua knew that Bray was telling the truth.

"As expected of the 'Hunter of Demigods,' the title is not an exaggeration at all."

“I didn’t ask anyone to give me that title,” Bray shrugged.

“We’ll have a chance to meet again,” Joshua suddenly said.

“There won’t be a chance. You go to heaven, I’ll stay on the ground,” Bray said casually.

“In this world, there is no such thing as ‘no chance’,” Joshua said to Bray, narrowing his eyes.

He shook his hand, and countless feathers fell from the white wings behind him.

The feathers fluttered in the wind, making Bray think, "Stop shedding!"

The next moment, the outer perimeter of the sacred mountain was covered by countless interwoven blue patterns.

A roar, like that of a large machine starting up, rang in Bray's ears.

Seeing this, Bray knew that Joshua was about to leave.

After saying all this "nonsense" to myself, I had no intention of lingering and was about to leave.

It was even more decisive than Bray had imagined, without the slightest hesitation.

That's true; angels must be more attached to Heaven than to the mortal world.

Bray tapped his fingers on the scabbard of his longsword.

"Clang—" The sound of a sword being drawn rang out, and the broken blade was unsheathed.

The tip of the sword landed less than half a centimeter in front of Joshua, then came to a steady stop.

Joshua neither dodged nor hid.

"Consider this a tip for listening to the story." After listening to the bard's story, it's only right to give a tip.

Bray, unusually in the mood, twirled his sword for a moment before quietly sheathing it.

As his sword was sheathed, the frost that wouldn't melt off Joshua's body suddenly vanished.

Without any sign of melting, the frost vanished cleanly and decisively.

This frost is caused by the concept itself; as long as the concept is suppressed, the frost will naturally disappear.

Bray initially had no intention of contacting the Frost on Joshua's behalf, because he was not familiar with Joshua and had no obligation to do so.

He wasn't so kind as to help someone who might become his enemy in the future.

Moreover, if he wanted to completely eradicate the frost, Bray would have to put in some effort, and he was always too lazy to do things that were thankless and laborious.

However, this time is a little different.

Bray helped Him out of consideration for the fact that He was a man with a wife and who loved her deeply.

Joshua stretched his hands and then glanced at Bray.

"Why help me?" Joshua asked quietly, feeling that he already knew the answer, though that answer might be wrong.

“There’s no reason why,” Bray said, taking a few steps back and looking up at the magnificent holy mountain.

By the time he looked down, Joshua's figure had already disappeared, leaving only a pile of feathers that gradually turned into photons.

One enormous ring after another encircled the sacred mountain, each ring inscribed with incomprehensible runes.

The way the holy mountain returns to heaven is not the gradual ascent that normal people imagine.

If it really is that kind of ascension, returning to that distant paradise, who knows how long that will take.

Heaven is so high that the Black Iron race cannot touch it or see it.

It is precisely because of this that without this sacred mountain, these surviving angels would have no way to return to Heaven.

Bray shielded his eyes; the blue light was a bit too bright.

The shockwave spreads outwards from the sacred mountain.

The tilted sacred mountain gradually straightened, hovering more than ten meters above the ground.

Faintly, Bray could see the angels flying around the holy mountain.

Unfortunately, Bray didn't see Joshua.

Bray had a very unreliable intuition that Joshua would cause the angels to make very big changes in this turbulent world.

With a crackling sound, the entire holy mountain vanished from its spot, leaving behind a vast amount of magical energy in the surrounding space.

The immense magical power caused everything around them to turn blue.

The golden desert was also forcibly stained with this dark blue.

At the same time, the archmages in various cities of the Western Continent could strongly feel this terrifying magical power.

This magic gave those archmages the illusion that the world was about to perish.

The strongest reaction came from the army waiting far from the sacred mountain.

The enormous mountain vanished without a trace before our eyes, without the slightest warning.

---

Bray kicked the ground beneath his feet, which was blackened by the lightning, wondering what had caused this phenomenon.

Anyway, this was the first time Bray had ever seen the desert scorched black.

It's amazing, and Bray simply can't explain it.

"Our honeymoon destination is gone." Naruko said expressionlessly, her tone slightly resentful.

“It’s okay, we can travel around the nearby cities and treat it as a honeymoon,” Bray said calmly. He thought Naruko was going to say something, but it turned out to be this.

"My gut feeling tells me I've been fooled by you," Naruko said, dissatisfied.

"Your intuition is always very accurate."

“Then I’ll take it as a lie.” Bray’s tone remained as casual as ever.

"Hmph, you can only fool me." Naruko snorted.

“Let’s go, our vacation isn’t over yet.” Bray naturally took Naruko’s right hand, which was covered in arm armor.

"It's uncomfortable to hold my right hand." Naruko pulled her right hand away and extended her left hand instead.

“…” Bray was stunned for a moment, not understanding what Naruko was doing.

But he didn't think much of it and took Naruko's soft, boneless left hand in his.

"Hmm." Naruko made a strange sound.

"Hmm—" Levy looked at Bray and Naruko with a very subtle expression. The once glorious paradise is now nothing more than a ruin in the sky.

Only from the broken walls and ruins can one tell that there were once magnificent buildings and dazzling lights here.

Now, Paradise has become the nest of the Silver race, and several sacred mountains have been occupied by them.

They occupied this place without any particular intention; they simply occupied it because they wanted to.

The World Wall's binding force on them weakened, allowing them to do whatever they wanted.

The feeling of not being restricted no matter what you do is simply wonderful; there's no other word to describe it.

Joshua looked at the ruined paradise, his thoughts unreadable.

The angels behind Him, however, were more agitated.

After all, this is the homeland of all their angels, and it's impossible not to be moved when their homeland is destroyed like this.

“Don’t leave here,” Joshua said to the angels behind him.

Whatever these angels were thinking, they could not leave this holy mountain.

The moment this sacred mountain returned to paradise, the Silver Seed had already sensed it.

Silver Seeds aren't idiots; how could they overlook such a massive mountain?

However, they were too lazy to bother with them, because they only sensed a few insignificant birdmen in this mountain.

They might as well continue to manage the territory they have just occupied.

As long as these birdmen don't foolishly step into their territory, the Silver Seeds can temporarily ignore them.

Of course, this sacred mountain, which appeared out of nowhere, will eventually become another territory that the Silver Race will fight over.

It's just that there's no need for it right now.

If this sacred mountain remains here for some time, the Silver Seeds will begin to stir.

At that time, it is unknown whether the angels who barely survived on the mountain will be able to survive again.

"What will you do, Lord Joshua?" an angel couldn't help but ask after seeing that Joshua seemed to be leaving the holy mountain.

“I’ll go check on things and be right back,” Joshua said, giving a reasonable answer.

Joshua wondered if there were still any angels alive in Heaven. He explored the area but found nothing suspicious.

“Lord Joshua…please be careful,” Zoe whispered from the back.

Joshua gave Zoe a deep look, then nodded.

“Of course I will be careful,” Joshua said, and then left.

Compared to these angels, Joshua at least managed to avoid being discovered by the Silver Seeds without engaging in combat.

After flying to another sacred mountain, Joshua felt that the fallen mountain was actually intact.

Along the way, Joshua saw countless broken wings and the corpses of his kin lying in pools of blood.

The surrounding scenery was extremely desolate, and it was impossible to count how many angels had perished at the hands of the Silver Race.

However, the center of the sacred mountain was exceptionally clean, as if it had been meticulously prepared.

After the Silver race occupied their territory, they naturally wouldn't let their land become so dirty; at least the eastern part where they lived was cleaner.

Since the "Alliance of the Gods" is the largest Silver Race power in the terrestrial world, these Silver Races without power choose to invade Heaven, which the "Alliance of the Gods" will ignore.