Chapter 967
Fallen Heavenly Envoy: Well Killed!
At this moment, in the Victorious Palace of Lionheart City. There sat the Fallen Heavenly Envoy, emanating a continuous flow of fallen aura from his body, on the original throne of the Star Antimony Monarch. This was not the usual royal study for affairs of state, but an audience hall for receiving ministers or bestowing honors upon nobles. The back of the Star Antimony Monarch’s throne was crafted from refined star antimony and various colored gemstones.
The originally black and toxic metal antimony was now refined into pure, silver star antimony. It possessed irregular, sharp prismatic crystals that displayed different colors on each facet when illuminated by light. Merely by shifting the light source’s direction, they would transform into another hue. These extensions angled upwards from the back of the throne, towards the left and right. The morning sun would then cast its slanted rays upon the throne.
From a distance, it appeared as if these protruding colored crystals had become two dazzling, crystalline wings, exuding a peculiar, sacred beauty. The light refracting off these colored star antimones also projected numerous alchemical formations inscribed on their facets onto the walls, which would gradually rotate and appear and disappear with the changing angles of the sunlight.
This was the dream passed down through generations in the Star Antimony Kingdom:
Forsaking mortality and ascending to godhood.
But their aspiration remained unfulfilled until the fall of the Valentin dynasty. Now, a true god sat here—a god who had shed divinity and fallen into mortality, a fitting irony.
Under the contamination of the fallen aura, the once silver-gray star antimony turned pitch black. It became a “dazzling black,” intermittently flashing with colorful light in the darkness. Not only that, but the entire palace was stained black. The originally red carpet had turned black, and the vast amounts of gold and jewelry, like golden mountains, became dim. Only the purest rubies stubbornly blazed with dazzling red light; all else had lost its luster. Diamonds and crystals of any color now appeared purplish-black, and all silver objects had been removed—the Fallen Heavenly Envoy detested silver. The whites in the portraits adorning the walls had turned black, causing the eyes and teeth in each portrait to become entirely black.
The Fallen Heavenly Envoy did not sit upright on the throne like Valentine VII. Instead, he leaned his body askew towards the left, his right leg crossed over his left knee, appearing to recline silently. His left arm rested on the armrest, supporting his chin. Unlike the first Red Phase’s reign over Star Antimony, which was filled with chaotic and fallen “dynamism and rhythm”… the Fallen Heavenly Envoy was not attended by the succubi he kept. While that was a form of fallenness, he was, after all, not a Heavenly Envoy of the Path of Love.
This earthly god, clad in matte black bone armor and wearing a dark gold bull mask, had no one around him. The grand audience hall was devoid of any soul, not a single light ignited. He sat there… alone, with his eyes closed. He seemed to be enjoying a certain tranquility, or perhaps merely closing his eyes out of boredom. Or maybe he was so lonely that no one could see him, and there was no one to speak with.
Suddenly, the Fallen Heavenly Envoy slightly raised his head. “…Such a strong aura of sin,” his low voice rumbled. Still, he did not rise. With a slight wave of his monstrous claws, he opened a purple portal, summoning a succubus out of thin air. This succubus had mercury-like hair, a slender figure, and appeared quite young.
She froze for a moment upon her appearance, clearly surprised to be summoned. But she quickly bowed her head respectfully, “My Lord, you summoned me.”
“Speak, what is the matter?” the Fallen Heavenly Envoy asked lazily.
…There were so many things, which one did you mean? The succubus hesitated, unsure how to respond to being summoned only to be asked what was wrong. But she almost immediately guessed what the Fallen Heavenly Envoy was referring to. It was likely the loud noise that had just echoed.
“Please, look,” she said, drawing a circle before her. Pink aura condensed into a ring, within which appeared a dream-like scene. On a colossal tree stood a swift white deer. Upon closer inspection, one could see that the upper half of the white deer was a handsome and robust young man. His body was splitting open, and countless flaming sin thorns burst forth from within, colliding with meteors falling from the sky. He then opened a translucent golden barrier, steadily catching the meteor that had already been shattered and blurred by the impact.
The moment of contact sent a shockwave horizontally across the night sky, and the slightly sinking giant tree also triggered an earthquake. The meteor was caught by the barrier! The surface of the meteor was almost completely cracked, and it was continuously shattered by the surging, wave-like sin thorns. When the barrier dissipated, the meteor, now close to the treetop, had lost most of its momentum. It descended less than ten meters before being steadily caught by the tree canopy. This time, no earthquake occurred; the tree canopy stably caught what was now less than a tenth of the meteor’s original volume. The scattered fragments of the meteor fell at the foot of the tree, landing only on the ruins of destroyed buildings.
The entire process appeared as if it were a recorded scene from afar, overlaid with a hazy dream filter, making it appear indistinguishable like a mirage.
“…Child of the Candlemaster.” The Fallen Heavenly Envoy glanced at the scene and sneered coldly, “Heir to Lucifer’s Wings, no wonder he can control sin thorns. Hmph… it seems another Heavenly Candlemaster Envoy will emerge this generation.” He clearly saw that this was merely at the Fifth Tier level. He hadn’t even donned the Supreme Holy Crown to reach the Sixth Tier.
“This one…” the succubus hesitated, “should be the Pope who gathered the allied forces…”
“Let them gather,” the Fallen Heavenly Envoy waved his hand dismissively. “If they can truly break through all obstacles and reach me… then I am willing to give them a chance to challenge me.” He then let out a sarcastic cold laugh. “Sprenger’s strategy is excellent. There’s no need to dispatch demons to kill them; merely allowing my fallen aura to contaminate the land is sufficient. Compared to the Winged Ones of ancient times, humans of this era are too degenerate. Since humanity’s birth, there have been more than ten times as many demons in these past few hundred years as in all prior history.”
The Fallen Heavenly Envoy could clearly sense and amplify the desires for downfall brewing in people’s hearts. Within the allied forces, degeneracy and corruption were taking root. If this continued, they would collapse within three days. Even if someone had cleansed their minds last night, it would at most be a delay. Even if a momentary passion and beauty diluted the degeneracy, beauty was fleeting, while degeneracy was eternal… After a single night’s sleep, they would forget yesterday’s inspiration, yet new envy and sloth would emerge.
—Look. Even the leader of this allied army is starting to fight amongst themselves! The Fallen Heavenly Envoy had not dispatched any Upper Demons to kill this Pope, yet he was clearly in a fierce battle within Star Antimony. After the Fallen Heavenly Envoy’s descent, he had inspected the land of Star Antimony and found no Extraordinary who could threaten him. Therefore, the Extraordinary battling the Pope and summoning the meteor could only be someone the Pope had just brought in.
As the Heavenly Envoy of “Sin and Punishment,” the Fallen Heavenly Envoy also understood the secret of sin thorns. The Sin Eater Beasts could transform the sin within souls into sin thorns. The person who summoned the meteor had generated a large amount of sin within him… and it even produced so many sin thorns, using his soul as nourishment. Summoning a meteor of this scale… it was madness.
—Even the Fallen Heavenly Envoy found you unreasonable. If not for the Pope’s compassionate heart… this single falling rock would have caused more casualties than the Fallen Heavenly Envoy’s half-month of descent combined.
Is this humanity? Is this the Brave? Is this the one who wants to save the world? The Fallen Heavenly Envoy felt only contempt. He had originally planned to visit the camp the next morning and show those people what a god was… but it seemed that was no longer necessary. He would simply continue the curse ritual, releasing the sin and degeneracy within him onto this land. Cursing this land, cursing all living beings that drew sustenance from the earth. The medium for this curse was simple: this Star Antimony Monarch’s throne.
The Fallen Heavenly Envoy now found the excessive caution he had displayed last month laughable—perhaps the tense atmosphere amplified by Sprenger had made him too wary. “I thought the ‘Brave’ chosen by that snake tail would have some skill,” the Fallen Heavenly Envoy’s deep voice rumbled. “With this level of strength… hehe.”
“How could they possibly have any chance of victory?” the succubus whispered obsequiously, “You are a Great Lord of God, the ruler of the mortal world! Mortals on this earth are like ants before you. How can any flesh and blood defy the will of God?”
“Still, he deserves some respect,” the Fallen Heavenly Envoy nodded slightly, his tone solemn, but he clearly enjoyed hearing the succubus speak. “That is a Ring Heavenly Envoy. One of the foremost schemers in the Dream Realm… The former Crown Heavenly Envoy, now the Crown Lord, was His disciple.
“…I just don’t understand whether that entity wants me to exterminate these people or not.” The Fallen Heavenly Envoy said lazily. His caution was not directed at these allied forces at all. He completely looked down on them—if the opponent could send a team of Sixth Tier Extraordinary, he would sit up and ponder countermeasures, but merely the Fifth Tier… What concept was the Fifth Tier? Mortals branded with the Mark of Sin by him, upon death and transformation into demons, would land at the Fourth Tier at the lowest. If they possessed some Extraordinary rank during life, or committed more evil deeds, they would land at the Fifth Tier upon death. Among demons, the Fifth Tier was merely akin to newborns. Even generously estimating, they were at most kindergarten level.
—Would an adult human wielding a weapon be afraid of kindergarteners killing them? This was impossible. He would only worry about whether he would be breaking the law by acting against these little ones—or attracting adults like himself.
“By the way, no need to look for Sprenger anymore,” the Fallen Heavenly Envoy said casually. “Her mark of fallenness has returned to me.”
“…Yes, My Lord,” the silver-haired succubus replied respectfully. Yesterday, when the Fallen Heavenly Envoy summoned Sprenger, she had ignored him, which angered him greatly. He had dispatched the succubus to find her, to see if something had happened to her. If the Fallen Heavenly Envoy were in the Dream Realm, he could directly see what she was doing, pursue her from afar, or even extract her power remotely. But now that he was in the Material Realm and had obtained a physical body, his control over authority and demons had declined by more than one level. Only an incorporeal god could fully wield divine authority.
However, just a short while ago, Sprenger’s Mark of Sin had returned to him. But her soul had not fallen into the Origin River. Normally, a soul bearing such a Mark of Sin, once in the Origin River, could be sensed by him and directly retrieved. This meant her soul had likely perished. The one capable of such a feat was probably the Eternal Pope, who could transform into a Sin Eater Beast. That snake tail, though once his enemy… now that the serpent itself had begun to actively interfere with this world, he no longer cared for this mere snake tail manipulated by others—it was at least no longer his primary target of hatred. The fact that the snake tail was covered in his Mark of Sin was something the Fallen Heavenly Envoy rather prided himself on.
The succubus hesitated, “Then, My Lord… regarding Sprenger…” She meant, wouldn’t they seek revenge? Although they were both demons of envy, as a succubus and Sprenger a night demon, they couldn’t exactly be friends. But the Fallen Heavenly Envoy’s current reaction seemed as if he was completely unfazed by Sprenger’s death.
“Revenge? Hmph…” The Fallen Heavenly Envoy’s lips curved upwards in a sneering smile. “How could that be.” He knew, of course, that although Sprenger was his disciple, she was also a disciple of the Ring Heavenly Envoy. As a Heavenly Envoy, he would be able to tell if his disciple’s soul had been influenced by other Heavenly Envoys. It was precisely for this reason that he had directly questioned her about the Ring Heavenly Envoy’s plans back then; and that he had been so arrogant and aggressive in his attitude towards her. The things he told Sprenger were actually equivalent to telling the Ring Heavenly Envoy directly. If he kept her by his side, he could use her to humiliate the Ring Heavenly Envoy from time to time.
A former friend, now an archenemy. Since he dared to place such a person by his side, he had to pay the price. Although Sprenger’s soul had not fallen into the Origin River, forfeiting the chance for him to completely turn her into one of his subordinate demons; she would also not be taken by the Ring Heavenly Envoy—for the Fallen Heavenly Envoy, this was rather a good thing.
That snake tail, that Child of the Candlemaster… Hmm, as a Child of the Candlemaster, he couldn’t exactly be considered an ant. As a pawn of the serpent, he was now at least a reserve Heavenly Envoy.
—Now that he has completely killed Sprenger, reducing her soul to nothingness, he has indeed disrupted the Ring Heavenly Envoy’s plan. For a snake tail to dare to resist the serpent, this made him unable to help but applaud. After all, the Fallen Heavenly Envoy had not dispatched Sprenger to contact him. He had merely instructed Sprenger to command the demon legions and make the humans pay as much as possible. Sprenger had clearly gone missing while carrying out a mission for the Ring Heavenly Envoy—this could only be considered a good disappearance!
The Fallen Heavenly Envoy had long known that after his descent, Sprenger had secretly disseminated knowledge of the Ouroboros Ring ritual multiple times. She was striving to teach others how to perform the Ouroboros Ring ritual… this was clearly a task assigned to her by the Ring Heavenly Envoy. The serpent, that fellow, likely intended to draw numerous Heavenly Envoys to the earth and alter this era, thereby accumulating enough merit to ascend to Pillar God.
…Heh, how boring. The position of Pillar God was nothing more than this. To fight over such a foolish thing, it seemed utterly childish to the current Fallen Heavenly Envoy. Sprenger’s death, however, earned him a little more favor towards that Child of the Candlemaster.
“Hmph, but even so…” the Fallen Heavenly Envoy sneered. He would not spare an enemy just because he held a slight favor towards them. Even a snake tail was an existence that irked him. “Since Sprenger’s mark of envy has returned… I am one Night Demon short.” The corners of his lips under the mask curved upwards, revealing an evil smile. “When they challenge me tomorrow, I will activate the mark of envy on him and humiliate him severely! Perhaps there’s a chance to directly transform that snake tail into a Night Demon—hehe. The esteemed Eternal Pope, publicly and before the expectant eyes of all people, being transformed into a demon by the very Demon Lord they sought to destroy. With this, I wonder how much delightful despair will flow upon the earth. Merely thinking about it… makes me want to burst into laughter.”
(End of Chapter)
