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Chapter 321: The Sacred Ode

Without adding more wounds to Yuna’s already battered heart, Edwina—Miss Vilyric subtly nodded to the other two shocked Saints beside her, each wearing different expressions, and directed her attention forward once again.

[The Tree of Creation, is there still the River of Time…?]

She seemed to grasp the meanings behind the two names obscured in the [Sword of Judgement].

This [Tree of Creation] was, to Vilyric, the most powerful entity among all creatures she had ever encountered. Although they hadn’t actually clashed, it was hard to determine who among them was stronger—her or its true form—but the chance of distinguishing between them seemed virtually impossible.

Because, in essence, this tree did not actually exist.

Vilyric could sense that the image before her was merely a convenient silhouette for biological comprehension, just as it and this space, this [River of Time], were both “non-existent things” that could not be evaluated by concepts like quantification and strength.

Something that exists yet doesn’t exist; it does not belong to all things yet equates to all things.

The [Tree of Creation]—that is the world.

Perhaps the “World Will” mentioned by Min Chen was intertwined with it in complex ways, but it could never truly be equated.

Because according to that guy, the so-called “World Will” that had guided them here clearly possessed its own consciousness and capability for communication, yet the [Tree of Creation] before her was different. While magnificent and omnipotent, it did not possess the concept of “consciousness.”

It was the embodiment of everything in this world, materializing in response to the guidance and calls of the three divine artifacts, answering the prayers of its believers.

Thus, it was just like thousands of years ago, bestowing the [Sword of Origin] with the power sufficient to fulfill prayers, but how to use it still depended on the actions of the prayer itself.

[……]

The girl raised her hand, feeling the condition of this body.

Although the Little Dragon Daughter had delivered a super high-purity Light Element Crystal, more refined than the one Xiao Lan had previously made, using both Vilyric’s SP and her own energy, the Priestess wasn’t entirely sure it could descend upon Edwina.

But thankfully, it succeeded, and surprisingly well adapted.

Min Chen’s situation was similar; it seemed the conditions for divine descent didn’t necessarily have to tie to faith—perhaps it was also related to the fact that Edwina had absorbed Lady Vilyric’s blood within her…

It might harness half the power of its true form.

Though there were still some unanswered questions, they didn’t matter much.

[Then let’s begin, the Sword of Origin… come.]

[Vilyric] raised her hand, and the supreme sword hovering over the River of Time responded to this call, transforming into a beam of light and descending.

She grasped it firmly.

“Buzz~~~~~~~”

Invisible ripples spread out to every corner of the River of Time at the moment the deity grasped the divine sword.

Vilyric felt the intense will emanating from this sword, without a doubt, it was a true divine artifact, a genuine origin artifact, surpassing the three divine artifacts of the Holy Nation.

There was no sense of resistance or blockage as she had felt when using the [Sword of Judgement]. The compatibility between the deity and the divine sword reached its pinnacle the moment they touched; Vilyric instantly understood all its uses.

In the void beyond time, she held the [Sword of Origin] above her head, as if gently parting her lips.

[Slash]

The divine sword slashed forth in brilliance.

The images endlessly streaming along both sides of the [River of Time] froze in that moment, as the shining river reflecting all things was cleaved in two.

That strike transcending the concepts of all things severed cause and effect as well as time, reversing history like a tree trunk stripped of all erroneous branches, leaving behind countless new possibilities.

Vilyric felt it.

That was a fork that existed in the past, leading to the future.

Just as the Seer, Mona, once told her, time and the world are an endless tree, each node possessing infinite possibilities; she had seen the future in the past and guided it towards the most anticipated tomorrow.

Vilyric could now accomplish the same, even… reversing it.

This was the power of the [Sword of Origin]—to overturn cause and effect, to overturn history, to rewrite the incredible by altering the future existing in the past and the past that is yet to happen—bestowed by the [Tree of Creation], a miracle that could hardly be replicated.

However, she did not strike immediately.

The weight of history was far too heavy. Even the slightest tremor within would yield earth-shattering changes, altering what is and who is, flipping the heavens and the earth.

[Then, where should the past and future head, beings in the river of time, make your choice.]

The grand will, leveraging the power of the [Sword of Origin], spread across the River of Time.

This transcended temporal thought descended into the past of the Holy Empire—every corner across three hundred years, entering the minds of every being that had ever existed, still exists today.

As long as they held the requisite faith.

[Make your choice.]

The Holy City, Holy Star City, Eastern and Western capitals, in every city of the Holy Empire, in every temple of the world, everyone in the Church of the Goddess and the Church of the Light, provided they held the requisite faith in their hearts.

Such grand words rippled through every node of time.

Among them, it also included a certain day three hundred years ago.

On a brutal and defeated battlefield, a blood-soaked, golden-haired Saint, wearing a bright crown, gazed at the fading ram-headed demon before her, a bittersweet smile on her face.

Her life had reached its waning moments, an unprecedented crisis in her seven hundred years of existence, and she was unaware of the future her death would guide this realm into, causing her great worry.

Thus, the ram-headed demon offered temptation.

[Artifact Spirit, you’re quite something. This current situation wasn’t my intent; how about we… cooperate?]

The wheels of history were rolling, about to tread the predetermined path.

[What do you want to cooperate on…?]

But at that moment.

[Make your choice.]

The grand will crossed through time and causality, descending beside its believer.

The future from the past turned into a bubble, clearly materializing before the girl who would later be known as Yuna Summerfield, halting the words she was about to utter.

[What is this…?]

[Hmm? What’s wrong? Your face suddenly looks strange… wait, whose power is this?]

The demon known as [Corruption] still tried to entice her, but such words could no longer reach her ears.

She understood everything, just like countless other believers who had been questioned by the will.

The bittersweet smile on her face transformed into utmost devotion and reverence, dragging her heavily wounded body down to her knees, offering heartfelt praise towards the heavens.

She said.

They said.

[Great and sublime Light of Origin, I praise your name…]

[You are the embodiment of dawn and hope…]

[You are the first beam of light in the world, the master of all that is beautiful and bright…]

[Lost children, I offer you sincere praise and gratitude.]

[Please let the Holy Light come upon me, dispel evil, and cleanse my heart…]

[Praise… your name.]

[Most High and Holy Light of Origin…]

[Please watch over your believers, grant us guidance.]

Cause and effect converged into faith.

Above the transcended River of Time, countless praises and wishes congregated.

He saw countless pasts and futures, knowing all as the boundless believers provided answers that belonged to them, their devout wishes flowed into the [Sword of Origin], making it shine brilliantly.

[I have received your answers…]

And so, He swung the sword and forged everything anew.

Possibilities sprouted forth from fresh new branches, merging the past into one.

That would bring about far-reaching impacts—unpredictable on true [reality], spawning futures He had never even seen before.

But new hope had already broken away from the inevitably shattering conclusion, blossoming like seeds.

Where the [Deity] could not be covered by time.

[……?]

A giant formed of countless meters of blood was severed by a strike that came from far away.

An unstoppable, unresisting ultimate blow—a convergence of countless faiths and supreme divine power—could hardly be resisted even by the God of Slaughter, transformed into a blood blade from divine realms, before this sword light that shattered time itself.

His body dissipated in the blood light rising into the sky, but after the initial shock, He felt no anger; only a dazed satisfaction.

[I see… I see, clever tricks aside, I shall acknowledge your qualification as the Lord of Dragons. The God of Light, huh? Hmph, this time you’ve won, but I’ll become stronger, someday I will be stronger! And when that time comes, I will come again to challenge you!]

[I, shall slaughter all! Hahaha!!! Hahahahahahaha!!!!!!!]

The descending blood light dissipated, for He did not belong to the [Other] being the reshaped past and future, but the sword that pointed at Him was not the only thing the [Sword of Origin] had severed.

“It seems the master’s plan has succeeded… well, let’s say this time it was a satisfying hit, hey…”

The Dragon Girl floating in the sky turned back, only to find the place was empty, leaving behind the verdant Tree of Life, still emanating gentle yet vigorous ripples.

“That guy… runs pretty fast.”

Below, the war still raged on, but everything seemed to have settled.

Yet no one knew that, on the far side of the sea, a silver-eyed consequence was drawn, slowly turning towards the west.

[Has it really reached this level? Faster than I expected… there’s no time left, Xī…]