Chapter 2: New Century (Epilogue)
The news of a possible turn of events surprised Alice Frost. Even Adenasi, standing beside her, stopped crying.
“Hic—”
Overwhelmed by extreme emotion, she couldn’t help but hiccup, her pretty face flushing as she quickly covered her mouth. Fortunately, everyone’s attention was focused on Michael’s words, and no one noticed her embarrassment.
“The God of Death’s divinity is an unsolvable existence on the prime material plane. Therefore, you must use the right sheath for the right sword! The simplest way to break this spiritual curse is to find the God of Death.”
Michael’s words were astonishing, dropping a bombshell right away. What’s the difference between finding the God of Death and finding death itself? Even if the God of Death was in slumber, living beings could not approach his coffin under the influence of his divinity. The undead energy there had even reached a liquefying point, hence it was also known as the Dead Sea.
The Ghost Dragon Angus had indeed stayed in the Dead Sea for a while, and his strength had recovered rapidly. However, after leaving the Dead Sea, he had completely descended into a state of madness, only gradually calming down after more than a month and recovering his senses with the soul lamp of the Undead Emperor. From any perspective, Michael’s statement was equivalent to saying nothing at all.
The light in Alice Frost’s eyes extinguished once more. Michael noticed this. He removed the blade of grass from his mouth and tucked it into Alice’s hair, his gaze as gentle as if he were looking at his own child.
“Don’t be so discouraged. Do you think Lord God of Death is as evil as a demon?”
“Isn’t he?” Adenasi said dejectedly. “Even children know that the authority of the God of Death is to harvest life. Moreover, the God of Death created the undead, a race that is the natural enemy of the living. Isn’t he evil?”
“Hahaha!” Michael burst into laughter, so heartily that his feathers shed and transformed into fiery spears, flying towards the Holy Light cage in the sky. He seemed to have heard a great joke, and only when everyone was utterly confused did he calm his breathing, a slight smile playing on his lips.
“This is the worst defamation Lord Ossirist, the God of Death, has ever suffered. I’m sorry, it’s just too funny. It seems our forces of Light have done excellent public relations work. Lord God of Death has successfully gone from being black from head to toe.”
Gabriel’s expression became somewhat awkward at this. The campaign to vilify the God of Death had been initiated by him. Of course, the command had been issued by Lord God of Light, and he was merely an executor. Even so, he sometimes felt deeply ashamed when he recalled his actions. Seeing Michael about to tear away this fig leaf, he couldn’t help but slowly turn his head to look elsewhere, coincidentally making eye contact with a Ghost Dragon pretending to be a statue. He raised an eyebrow and drew his Holy Sword.
Angus: (ಥ﹏ಥ)?! Damn that Lich’s blue underpants! Angus gnashed his teeth.
To hide himself from the four Archangels, he had dismantled his entire skeleton, leaving only his skull to protect his soul fire. He then casually covered it with a headless stone statue, reducing his presence and undead aura to an absolute minimum. To be discovered even then? These angels were like bloodhounds!
“Clang—!” The sound of a sword being unsheathed echoed, followed by a terrifying explosion. Michael ignored Gabriel. Young people needed to vent their emotions more, so they could become as imperturbable as him in the future. He continued speaking to Xi Wei and the others. “Lord God of Death and Lord God of Light, due to the conflict of their divine nature, appear to be enemies. However, their relationship is not as bad as you might imagine. It’s true, they fight often, but it’s mostly playful. You can think of them as frenemies? I remember there’s such a term in a play from Winter City, and it perfectly summarizes the relationship between Lord God of Death and Lord God of Light.”
“But what about the undead? What about them?” Adenasi had never heard such a fantastical story before, and she still found it hard to believe. The God of Death was also known as the God of Darkness, or the God of Ultimate Darkness. He was friends with the God of Light? Then what about the principle of irreconcilable opposition between light and darkness that had been adhered to on the prime material plane for thousands of years? Was it all a joke?
“The undead are easy to explain. It is a race created by Lord God of Death to deal with the Old Ones. The Old Ones’ kin are immortal, so Lord God of Death also created immortal undead, hoping they could contend with the Old Ones’ kin. If you recall, before Ragnarok, when gods dotted the sky like stars, did anyone hear of the undead?”
Adenasi’s gaze shifted with difficulty to Empress Alice. Alice’s worldview was also collapsing, but being well-versed in the continent’s history, she knew that Michael’s account was very likely the truth. Before Ragnarok, the undead race did not exist. She had wondered about it herself, even speculating that the undead might be kin of the Old Ones, and only became servants of the God of Death after the Old Ones departed. She had never considered the God of Death and the God of Light to be friends, let alone that the undead were weapons used against the Old Ones, such conclusions were too absurd.
“That is the truth. The original purpose of the undead was to oppose the Old Ones.” Michael took in everyone’s disbelieving expressions and spread his hands. “It’s just that later, Lord God of Death acted impulsively and paid the price. His remaining proxy, the Undead Emperor Audoin, was also a hothead. He happened to believe that Lord God of Death’s slumber and the God of Light’s timidity were inseparable. Thus, he escalated the hatred to all living beings and the forces of Light. This is how the Undead Calamity erupted after Ragnarok, and the Church of Light also ascended to the stage of history.”
Raphael, the Angel of Dominion, stepped forward to pick up Michael’s thread. “We have had countless opportunities to destroy all the undead, but we ultimately did not do so.” Uriel, the Angel of Divine Light, also said with a smile, “Any one of us four Archangels descending could make Audoin cower and dare not make a sound. However, since the undead are still useful, and it is also to save Lord God of Death some face, for the past thousand years, the Church of Light has been playing a game, strengthening ourselves while also strengthening the power of the undead.”
At this point, Adenasi’s worldview had completely collapsed. She asked almost blankly, “Then, then why did you slander Lord God of Death? He is clearly, clearly a god of good…”
“Why?” Raphael smiled. He then gestured to Lewenstein, who had appeared behind them. “Lewenstein, you are one of the most special extensions of Lord God of Light’s will. You tell them why.”
Lewenstein cleared his throat, a wicked smile appearing on his lips. “Because Lord God of Light wanted some fun, and also to give Lord God of Death, who will awaken in the future, a big surprise. Keke…”
Gabriel, the Angel of Judgment, chose his proxy.
