Chapter 259: Confidence from Both Sides for the Next Round
The Twelve Twilight of the Gods is a skill Roger developed from his long behind-enemy-lines operations, combined with his understanding of the essence of gods in the Source Sea. He proposed the theory, and the Empire analyzed its feasibility, ultimately completing the skill.
No, given its complexity, demanding conditions, lengthy preparation, and immense cost, calling it a skill might be diminishing it.
It should be called a tactical system, or one of the Empire’s ultimate weapons for combating deities.
The principle itself isn’t complicated:
It simulates the target deity’s divinity, interfering with their use of Divine Power. Then, their believers restore the Faith Power that constitutes their body, causing further interference.
This operation is akin to a virus invading a human body, first triggering a pathological reaction, then exploiting the weakness.
Next, it reverse-transcribes DNA, causing the body to express and synthesize the proteins the virus needs, using the host’s cellular machinery to replicate the virus.
The Empire’s “Twelve Twilight of the Gods” operates similarly. It is currently using the War Goddess’s own strength against her, trapping her.
Her power is being weakened layer by layer. The immense Faith Power constituting her Incarnation is becoming increasingly uncontrollable, her resistance weakening, and her self-control steadily declining.
Those who can tread the path of godhood are the strongest in the world. Even though the War Goddess was directly created by a God King, she is undeniably capable and ambitious, possessing her own unique understanding of power and believing she has mastered every inch of her body to its limit.
The experience of losing control of her Divine Power and her body refusing to respond is entirely alien to Tybela. The voices emerging in her mind are growing louder, filling her with a sense of dread.
This Empire had set a trap for her. She had once dismissed mortal methods, confident that brute force could overcome any obstacle.
However, upon entering the enemy’s territory, her plan to use the ‘triangular formation’ of her three Incarnations – tank, caster, and healer – to unleash a combo skill was easily thwarted by the enemy’s interference.
Then came the Plane promotion, which perfected the twelve God-Slaying ships. The Twelve Twilight of the Gods was activated, leading her to this predicament.
Her Divine Power is constantly draining. Given Tybela’s personality, if she couldn’t break through the Empire’s defenses, she would surely sacrifice the Dark Elves on the spot to provide her with Faith Power.
At the very least, crushing Yavanna could regain a significant amount of Faith Power. While she hadn’t anticipated this situation earlier, if sacrificing her subordinates could buy her freedom, Tybela saw no reason to refuse.
Unfortunately, the Empire’s military had extensively simulated Tybela’s potential reactions. Her characteristic disregard for sacrificing her subordinates had been evident countless times.
In the Eternal Night World, wasn’t Tasika’s deep hatred for the War Goddess born from her exploitation of the beastmen, never rewarding their piety and always treating them as expendable pawns?
Not to mention her actions on the battlefield confronting the Gods, operating deep behind enemy lines controlled by the War Goddess, all vividly demonstrated how unreliable Tybela was.
Therefore, while Roger launched his decisive blow, the Second Fleet had already made thorough preparations, strictly separating Tybela from the Dark Elves led by Yavanna.
Even if she returned to the Blue, Tybela would have no chance of breaking free from the chains. The Twelve Twilight of the Gods was a terminal illness for her.
But what if a miracle occurred?
The Empire, having prepared for so long, did not want to invite any unforeseen variables. It clearly understood Tybela’s ulterior motives and would not give her such an opening.
Tybela finally realized that she had fallen here today. Although it was only three Incarnations, the implications behind this were terrifying.
These mortals now possessed the means to control deities, and it was so perfect, so precise, that they had analyzed the various properties of Divine Power thoroughly.
Certain properties of divinity can grant deities computational power and response capabilities equivalent to a supercomputer, enabling them to manage churches and believers, bestow divine spells, and so on.
Therefore, deities possess extremely profound thinking capabilities. During the three minutes Tybela’s Incarnation was bound by chains, she attempted countless methods, but all ultimately failed.
This included preemptive strategies prepared by the Empire and counter-measures against Tybela’s ultimate moves.
Divinity offers the computing power of a supercomputer, but the Empire now arrays hundreds of times that power, intending to monitor every fluctuation of Magic Element around Tybela, predict her actions, and prevent their success.
Vigilantly guarded, with the strength of the entire nation, they bet everything from the start: “Die!”
This was the Azurevine Empire’s true trump card today. Even if the Twelve Twilight of the Gods had failed, many other means awaited Tybela.
After the New Arcane Movement, the Empire’s schools of thought flourished, and various arcane crystal machinery emerged. The analysis of magic and its underlying principles accelerated.
Even the mysteries of Divine Power, after Shana unveiled a corner of the iceberg and completed energy conversion, the Empire gained more applications.
While they couldn’t yet achieve god-like abilities for everyone, easily simulating all aspects of Divine Power with arcane crystal machinery, specific applications for specific situations now had theoretical principles to rely on.
For example, simulating the War Goddess’s divinity today, or reversing Divine Power into Faith Power, were practical successes stemming from the Empire’s theoretical advancements.
The strength of deities lies not only in their accumulated power but also in their mystique, setting them far apart from mortals.
Deities have always been stingy with their interventions, subjectively due to pride and greed, believing that problems solvable by their churches didn’t warrant their personal involvement.
Objectively, this has led to limited mortal understanding of deities, thus no targeted combat methods.
Although mortals have slain deities more than once throughout history, these were all the result of specific, special circumstances, potentially arising from conflicts between other deities.
Powerful deities, on par with many ancient gods, relied on divine wars for their demise—only the same level of machination could possibly end their eternal existence.
The Azurevine Empire achieving this feat, completely controlling a deity’s Incarnation within their grasp solely through mortal means, was unprecedented.
Seemingly without a hitch, Tybela walked into the stage set by the Azurevine Empire without any defenses. The Empire suffered minimal casualties.
Even the fleets previously destroyed were merely decoys, their personnel having been evacuated and dispersed.
However, such an ordinary outcome was the most difficult, representing countless days and nights of preparation, analysis, and the collision of brilliant ideas that accumulated into a trap even a deity couldn’t escape.
It was only now, completely at the mercy of the Azurevine Empire, that Tybela finally understood. She re-examined the Empire with the eyes of an equal adversary, astonished by its ambition.
The Mage Incarnation laughed hysterically, “You not only want to protect your world from divine control but are also analyzing my divine kingdom’s location and planning to counterattack me?”
“Listen to the voices in your mind. Your sins are so numerous that even the material of ten thousand Worlds couldn’t write them all down. Why shouldn’t we have the right to eliminate you?”
“These voices? Hahaha, strength is strength, weakness is weakness. Vulnerable lambs are meant to be exploited. This is the law of the Universe. What did I do wrong?”
“This is not the law of the Universe; it is the law set by deities. Using strength, bloodline, talent, sincerity, and these various shackles to limit mortal development, to maintain your eternal parasitic positions…”
“So what? Since we are powerful, we can uphold this system.”
“That’s true. Therefore, we must become even more powerful than you and return the Universe to the rules we recognize.”
“A group of mortals wants deities to abide by your rules?”
Tybela laughed even more unrestrainedly, as if she had heard the funniest joke in the world.
“If you don’t abide, we kill you.”
Roger saw important information analyzed by the Empire’s mages. They had pinpointed the location of the Conqueror’s Canyon.
Tybela was also aware of this, but she didn’t care at all.
They dared to go to her divine kingdom and claim to kill her simply by destroying her three Incarnations?
Their innocence and blind optimism were simply giving her opportunities.
Quantitative change leads to qualitative change. The methods that work on her Incarnation might not work on her main body.
Although the connection between her Incarnation and her main body had been severed, her experience could not be transmitted. Given her vindictive nature, she would definitely return to the Eternal Night World to investigate.
This could easily develop into a scenario of luring the enemy and ambushing reinforcements, with the Azurevine Empire constantly losing Faith Power.
Furthermore, with the Empire’s fleets continuously disrupting her controlled dioceses, her Faith Power turnover had become problematic, akin to a massive corporation facing a risk of cash flow disruption. Her existence might genuinely be threatened by the Empire.
Yet, despite this, the Empire wasn’t taking the most secure path but, inflated by victory, wanted to attack her divine kingdom directly?
Indeed, this is your world, and I have lost again.
But if you come to my world, you mortals will be seeking your own destruction!
Tybela’s mood improved at this thought; even if she fell here, it didn’t matter.
At least she knew the enemy was not invincible, that they too could be arrogant and overconfident. Enduring until now to deliver such a blow was the limit of what mortals could achieve.
Their perspective was ultimately too narrow. They hadn’t grasped that conflicts between deities involve machinations lasting thousands of years, requiring thorough preparation before launching the final attack.
Otherwise, their divine kingdom would become the enemy’s graveyard. Even during warfare between deities, they were exceedingly cautious toward others’ divine kingdoms.
That was a realm of its own rules.
Come, come and seek your death!
Tybela was extremely confident.
The Azurevine Empire was also extremely confident.
They possessed means far beyond what Tybela had seen today. Numerous analyses of long-term plans between deities in the past had given them the confidence to deem this the time for the final decisive battle against Tybela.
Roger cast a deep look at the three Incarnations, frozen in the sky and now experimental subjects for the Empire. He left the God-Slaying ship and boarded the flagship of the First Fleet, the Eternal Night.
The Twelve Twilight of the Gods was continuously disrupting operations, making the God-Slaying ship temporarily immobile.
This also provided an opportunity for the countless suffering believers to question the Goddess who abandoned them and brought terrible suffering to their world, enumerating her sins one by one.
Roger hadn’t lied. Apart from Dale, the core of the God-Slaying ship consisted entirely of the War Goddess’s believers.
At least the core of the Second Fleet had not been selected from the Sons of the System.
These oppressed believers, once insignificant, many of them the lowest untouchables, eternal sinners, awakened their excellent qualities due to the Empire’s arrival. They not only mastered one of the World’s ultimate powers but also gained the chance to judge that deity.
For the core of the God-Slaying ship, and for the soldiers from other worlds who willingly followed Roger in conquering myriad worlds, the victory against the War Goddess today was not the final victory, but it represented…
That the dawn was finally breaking!
The embers, hidden in the long night, burned with difficulty, and countless people protected the inheritance with their lives. Now, there was finally hope to illuminate the darkness and usher in the dawn.
Such a victory, such a critical turning point, Roger, as the overall combat commander, had performed perfectly today. He believed he was absolutely qualified to report to the Empress of Eternal Night.
He had originally intended to negotiate before the battle with Tybela.
However, to avoid meeting him, the Empress of Eternal Night had handed over command directly to him, bypassing this procedure.
Roger had foreseen this possibility, and many unauthorized actions were included in the operation, precisely to pique the Empress of Eternal Night’s curiosity.
She would certainly have to see him!
As expected, after he submitted his boarding request, the Eternal Night quickly granted it.
He couldn’t help but clench his fist.
Three years. That heartless woman could actually bear not seeing him for three years!
Now, did she still have a reason to avoid him?
He strode in with an air of unparalleled confidence and entered the captain’s room.
Then he froze.
He looked around, confirmed multiple times, and finally, unable to suppress his anger, asked, “Old Joestar, why are you here?”
The middle-aged man, clad in a white wedding dress, with his muscular thighs wrapped in white stockings, smiled and said, “Of course, it’s by order of Your Majesty, my old friend!”
He stood up, put an arm around Roger’s shoulder, and said with great curiosity, “Quick, tell me, what strategies did you use to cleverly capture the War Goddess today?”
“Don’t come near me!”
Roger stepped back, avoiding his gesture of closeness, and asked, unwillingly, “Where is Her Majesty now? I have something important to discuss with her regarding the next step.”
“You might have to wait. She has already reached Conqueror’s Canyon.”
“???”
Damn it, is she avoiding me?
No wonder she wasn’t curious at all about how I did it. She had already treated my actions as a prelude, and now she was going to deliver the most critical blow.
This woman is becoming more cunning by the day!
Roger froze for a long time, then gritted his teeth and said, “All personnel, the war is not over! Immediately reinforce Conqueror’s Canyon! Her Majesty is in danger!”
Whether she was truly in danger or merely pretending, she had to be in danger for me to have a reason to appear!
