The burst of golden light lasted only for the moment before disappearing. The God of Vampires narrowed his eyes slightly.
“This is truly surprising, Innocent Creator... You weren’t already asleep…”
The God’s eyes finally noticed the brass fishhook in Red Butterfly Girl’s right hand.
“So that’s it, the power attached to the artifact… Even if you’ve fallen into slumber, you still want to cause me trouble!”
“I am the children’s protector, I should do these things.”
The Innocent Creator—the toy store owner and protector of children—spoke loudly in front of Xia De. There was hardly any power left on the brass-colored metal hook, which was made of the same material as god's gift box, but Xia De already knew what to do.
“This is just a bit of power you left on the fishhook. Do you think your true body is here?”
The Vampire God asked with a serious expression, and the clown-hatted phantom replied gravely under the Blood Moon.
“It’s enough, God of Vampires. A little power may not allow you to leave, but at least it can make this fishing rod serve its intended purpose! Coward, the cowardly Evil God doesn’t understand what sacrifice means!”
“What are you going to do!?”
The Miracle element suddenly erupted, and the golden light, once again soaring into the sky, finally made everyone above Middlesburg notice the anomaly at the foot of the mountain in the Woodland. The barrier set up by the God of Vampires was completely broken, and the interwoven blood light and golden light pierced through the layers of white mist, revealing the figures of Star Sea Whale soaring in the starry sky.
“Oh, my God, what happened?”
No one had anticipated this scene, and by Bena Lake, the terrifying power even forced the Vampire God to temporarily release Red Butterfly Girl’s left hand.
The source of the golden light was the hook embedded in her right hand. The fishhook tried to pull her back to Xia De’s side, but the Evil God wouldn’t let Xia De have his way.
“They are my prey!”
The massive phantom of a Vampire Evil Creature appeared at the God’s feet, instantly swallowing half of the Red Butterfly Girl’s body like the God’s shadow. But the fishhook, which should have been in her right hand, had, at some unknown point, pierced through her entire body and was coincidentally swallowed by that Vampire shadow.
In the light of blood and gold, Xia De lifted the fishing rod, pulling back more than half of Red Butterfly Girl’s body from above the blood lake before the rod shattered. Along with her, a brand new power was also reeled in.
“Thank you…”
He looked at the God’s figure dissipating in the light, and the young man wearing a clown hat smiled as he bid him farewell.
“Why thank me? I should be thanking you. Protecting children is my responsibility, and yet you, with no such responsibility, still came to protect them. Future child, may your journey ahead be safe!”
The transparent figure tried to place his hand on Xia De’s shoulder in the light, but disappeared into the light before making contact.
All the remaining power of The Innocent Creator dissipated. Xia De had no time to grieve the departure of his old friend again. He saw Grace White and Helen Black falling painfully through the air, and watched as the fishhook, carrying golden light, came before him.
The Soul Fishing Rod completely shattered, but the transferred power had already appeared in Xia De’s hand.
A golden orb was held aloft in his right hand, as if cradling a scorching sun. Facing the starry sky and the earth, his soul, empty from the desire for divinity, shouted out its inner longing.
“Power!”
The light illuminated the blood-red lakeside. Familiar golden cracks crackled and spread from his right hand across his entire body, until they pierced through his right eye. His right eye, with its golden cracks, seemed to burn with golden fire, and those eyes were looking up at the astonished God above.
“Help me grasp the power of divinity.”
“Do you still remember what to say?”
A murmur echoed from within the blood mist.
“Of course.”
Holding the divinity, Xia De, whose entire body was covered in golden cracks, lightly leaped up and caught the girl who was missing a small portion of her body. In Xia De’s hands, they split into two people. But both Grace White and Helen Black were pale, with their eyes tightly shut.
Even with the help of The Innocent Creator, the God of Vampires still consumed nearly a quarter of their physical bodies and souls. Fortunately, they were no longer human and had even experienced countless deaths and rebirths, so they could maintain their physical forms even after being severely wounded.
Xia De held them, placing them on the bank away from the lake. Then he took out Mia’s doll, transformed the cat back into a real cat, and let it jump to the ground.
“The upcoming battle is extremely dangerous. Last time, I had no experience fighting the Blood Feast Lord, but this time I definitely won’t bring you along… Don’t run around. Watch over them. I will definitely return.”
After the descent of the God, all the Vampires in the vicinity had disappeared, whether they had turned into sacrifices or were simply unable to approach the God. Therefore, leaving them here was not dangerous. But Xia De still used the power held in his right hand to draw a golden circle on the ground to protect Red Butterfly Girl and the cat.
“Meow~”
The cat let out a somewhat mournful cry inside the circle. It licked the golden light on Xia De’s finger, then lay down between Grace White and Helen Black, looking pitifully at Xia De, as if it knew what Xia De was about to do.
The Outsider stroked the cat’s small head, stood up straight, turned around, and looked again at the God beneath the enormous and real Blood Moon. Behind the God were the mountains, and further away, the endless starry river.
The injured God of Vampires had already retreated to the center of the blood lake, covering his mouth in the air, and was also looking at him.
“Unexpected guest, are you really determined to fight me?”
Xia De did not answer him, but instead held the golden orb in his right hand and walked step by step towards the blood lake.
The elemental impact that had just erupted completely broke the blockade of Bena Lake. Above them, the brilliant inverted starry river was now visible.
“Yes, I had already made up my mind before coming up the mountain.”
Xia De stepped onto the crimson water, his eyes, with their golden cracks, directly looking at the God in the air.
“I exhausted all my power in death, fighting Joey Barton, knowing that if I didn’t do so, you wouldn’t easily appear before me.”
“Are you so sure that The Innocent Creator would help you?”
The God of Vampires hung high in the center of the blood lake, the red celestial body appearing to be a massive, writhing evil creature.
Xia De’s eyes were dyed red by the Blood Moon, and he nodded softly.
“The day I saw the Red Butterfly Girls again in this epoch, god's gift box was delivered into my hands. If I couldn’t even guess what that meant, I wouldn’t be qualified to stand before you now.”
He stopped, holding the golden orb and looking up at the God. The God of Vampires lowered the arm that was covering his mouth.
“Gods belong to Gods, and mortals belong to mortals.
In the City not far away, the epic of the sixth epoch is still unfolding according to the trajectory of fate. That is a mortal epic, so I will not interfere, and that is why you did not appear there. For you and me, Moon Child, the fate of the Red Butterfly Girls is what concerns us. Mortals will eventually die, all things are impermanent, and tonight is the end for the Red Butterfly Girls.”
“Moon Child” was his new address for Xia De, but he didn’t know what this address signified.
“All things are indeed impermanent, and the Red Butterfly Girls will indeed depart one day. But I believe their end will not be today, nor will it be by being devoured by you.”
Xia De said with firm eyes.
Blood mist permeated the surroundings, and blood water rippled; overhead, the starry river was inverted, with more and more translucent blue Star Sea Whales swimming through the star sea; behind them, the dense forest was crimson, as the God’s power corrupted the land; the mountaintop spewed black smoke, tracing marks against the deep blue starry sky in the night wind.
On the other other side of the Woodland, the City glowed with fire, and undead evil creatures above the City were engaged in fierce battle with human Ring術士. Even without observing, Xia De knew how significant the battle of Middlesburg would be for the future.
The thick night wrote this scene. Xia De, holding divinity, stood above the blood lake, gazing at the God before the Blood Moon.
But the God was right: Gods belong to Gods, and mortals belong to mortals. That was the epic of the Chosen Ones, not the epic of Xia De, an Outsider outside of fate. Now, he only wanted to save Grace White and Helen Black; he only wanted everyone he knew to be safe.
“Unexpected guest, then, please!”
“You are me…”
He whispered, and immediately, that gentle laughter echoed in his ears.
Silver light appeared on his body, and Xia De took another step forward. Only this time, he was not walking forward, but rather stepping towards the starry sky as if treading on invisible steps in the air.
The late autumn night wind could not disperse the blood mist that corrupted the forest, but it could blow the holy silver light from Xia De’s body behind him. The light grew brighter and brighter, as if Xia De had grown long silver hair, or as if he had donned a silver cloak.
“...I am you…”
It seemed as if a pair of hands wrapped around Xia De’s neck, and he could even feel the warm and moist breath on his ear when that gentle voice spoke.
The voice was still so pleasant, so captivating to Xia De.
“...My dear, Outsider.”
Xia De closed his eyes.
Ding!
The golden orb he held completely melted into his hand, and silver heavenly light descended from the sky. The silver light instantly flooded the entire blood lake.
The God of Vampires instinctively retreated again towards the mountains. The blood mist behind Xia De dispersed, while the enormous Blood Moon behind the God gradually rose into the sky, until it shone alongside a silver moon disk that had appeared at some unknown time, interweaving in the star sea beside the wandering Star Sea Whales.
His consciousness continuously ascended, until it reached a height unimaginable to mortals. Fine silver light clung along his muscle lines, changing the most basic rules of this body, allowing his flesh to sublimate under the power of divinity to a height sufficient to contain a God.
His outer clothing, dusty from continuous battles, vanished, and in the silver heavenly light, a silver robe draped over his body.
The one who stepped into the blood lake was the Outsider Xia De, but the one now confronting the God of Vampires in the air was the Outsider God, having ignited divinity for a second time. In his opened eyes, the red and silver twin moons were clearly reflected.
“You have absorbed the divinity of the Old God, Vampire Duke Loyaer.”
“The Scarlet Moon hangs high in the night sky. The God who governs the Red Moon craves bloody wine countless times, only to revel in the joy of blood before everything ends. God and God, Moon and Moon, when the twin Red Butterfly Girls, who please the Gods, dance between the two Gods, the Scarlet God of Vampires desires to obtain everything.”
“You have participated in the story of the Old God, Vampire Duke Loyaer. You have learned of the blasphemy of the Old God, Vampire Duke Loyaer.”
“Outsider, you have inscribed the Silver blasphemy Ling Rune - Red Moon.”
Holy songs intertwined, and the light of silver and blood illuminated all directions.
In that light, all things are impermanent Balance was thrown into the very center of the blood lake.
“Gods belong to Gods, mortals belong to mortals. In the name of the Old God, hanged judge, let us duel again. The victor obtains the Red Butterfly Girls, the loser departs.”
God and God gazed at each other across the blood lake, and the lake water beneath their feet actually changed. One side was blood-red, while the other was a transparent color shimmering with starlight.
The playing card spun, and in the dark golden light, it transformed into scales symbolizing the power of the ancient God. The Vampire God paused slightly, not expecting to see this.
“Agreed.”
In the distance, above Middlesburg, people once again sensed the appearance of a new divine aura at the foot of the mountain.
Even though tonight was not a full moon phase, in the star sea, the silver and blood-colored moons, as if projected from another world, were so full and clear. They heard the intertwined holy songs, and they felt the power from a higher dimension appearing in this space. Even without doing anything, it had almost changed the fundamental rules of this mountain forest area.
The sounds of battle and explosions that had been raging now completely ceased. The center of the world seemed to be focused on that small area at the foot of the mountain, where only soaring blood light and silver light could be seen. That light broke through the white mist shrouding the air, revealing the brilliant star sea.
No one knew what was happening there, but everyone’s faces were illuminated by that light.
Compared to Joey Barton, compared to the unrest in the Gap, compared to the undead aggregate born from the giant cocoon, this was the most unexpected thing of the night.
The earth trembled, holy songs echoed, twin moons hung in the sky, and under the curtain of the starry sky, the deep autumn night wind began to blow—
“So, what exactly happened?”
