The Journey West

"The power to shatter stars, eternal youth, rule over all nations on earth, and unwavering glory. Basically, anything you can imagine, I can do. Even if you want to pluck stars from the sky... well, comets and asteroids can be obtained for you right now. Planets are a bit more difficult, and stars will require some time to develop my technology. But that's all in the future. Just tell me, and I can make it happen for you."

The Flame-haired maiden tapped her fingertips on the surface of the seat. Her sword lay horizontally on her knees. The flames on the blade had ceased to burn.

Whether it was her imagination or not, Liliana felt a strange sense of 'laziness' or 'dependence' when she looked at that sword. It was just an ordinary sword, yet it seemed to be resting on Miss Surtr's lap like a very beautiful girl.

That must have been an illusion, because she simply blinked. The sword then returned to its cold, lifeless state.

She couldn't help but swallow.

"Anything... is that okay?"

"No, that's not it." Miss Surtr tilted her head to the other side. "If you want Laevateinn, I will kill you outright, destroy you completely, body and soul, and never let you be reincarnated. If you want me, I will erase this memory of yours, and then, depending on your motives, arrange some compensation for you or make you start over as a baby."

"..." The silver-haired female knight remained silent for a few seconds.

"Then I want to know the truth. I want to know why I'm here. And what are you planning to do?"

Miss Surtr glanced at her with some surprise.

"Your cognitive filter hasn't worn off yet; you probably can't understand who I am right now—why do you want to know the truth?"

"Because I'm doing something I wouldn't normally do." Liliana raised her head and straightened her chest. "I am a knight. I always hold myself to the strictest precepts. I will not, and will not, abandon my duties when I bear heavy responsibilities to do something else... unplanned."

"That's why I value you." Miss Surtr nodded slightly. "You, Erica, and a few others around your age are among the most talented people I know in the world... Of course, I know there's no shortage of talented people in this world. But you all, besides your talent, also meet my requirements in terms of character."

The Flame-haired maiden hair leaned back slightly.

"I intend to reshape this world. To create a new world without Unwilling God or God Slayer. And I don't want a world that needs a helmsman to be too democratic in its most turbulent early stages. Therefore, I need several administrators whose talents and character I can approve of."

The girl's words were exaggerated, but Liliana felt no need to question them. The young knight was only startled for a moment, then quickly suppressed his surprise.

"There are still many wise and virtuous people in this world. Why..."

"Because I don't know them, and I don't have time to get to know them," Miss Surtr replied. "High prestige means being recognized by the world. But I don't know or trust these people either—perhaps in many cases, it is the ordinary people who drive history forward, so those whom the people deem reliable and trustworthy should naturally become leaders. But now, only I can determine the future of the world and propel it toward that future."

"I am the one who decides the fate of the world. Therefore, I have the final say. Because without me here, even if you and other ordinary people were to spend another hundred years, you would not be able to end this cycle of gods and God Slayer. No, you don't even have a hundred years. You might not even have a hundred days."

The silver-haired knight was speechless.

"Do you know what God is? God doesn't actually exist. What exists are the spirits of nature, attached to mythology, and then they believe themselves to be the legendary deities and possess corresponding majesty. So, on this basis, where do you think those spirits of nature come from?"

The girl asked and answered herself—she didn't expect Liliana to give an answer.

"The spirit of nature comes from nature. And nature is this planet itself." The girl tapped the ground of the Ferris wheel capsule with her toes. "Beneath this crust, the will of the planet is nurtured. It is the most powerful natural spirit in this world, and those natural spirits on the surface that have become gods are merely its tentacles extending outwards."

The knight instinctively covered his mouth due to the impact.

But the storytelling didn't stop.

"It will eventually awaken, and when it awakens, all the gods will become it, and its life form will expand to an unbelievable degree at the moment of its birth—to use a term from a world I once visited. It should be almost like a celestial being... Ah, you don't need to understand this, you just need to know that it will be very, very strong. So strong that everything outside of it will become meaningless waste."

"The ritual of the God Slayer is a product of its influence on the panconsciousness of gods and humans during its embryonic development. God Slayer, Unwilling God, Pandora—all are trapped in the cages it has woven, guided by 'fate,' which it embodies. Gods, God Slayer, and mortals are all imprisoned on the surface of this planet, becoming sustenance for its 'wisdom' through countless deaths and rebirths. You cannot defeat it. Even if you destroy the ritual of the God Slayer, you can only delay its awakening, or at most, give birth to it prematurely."

"This was your fate all along. A suspended death sentence, but ultimately, you were destined for destruction. Until..." Miss Surtr snapped her fingers, and a projection of the past appeared on the table. It was a shrine, a woman dressed as a witch, and a Japanese man chatting and laughing. But the next moment, starlight shone from beyond the heavens!

The woman was instantly stunned, while the man was consumed by the starlight and became the medium through which it spread, sending this unknown light to some unknown, distant place. At the same moment, a young hero sealed within Tokyo Bay was also pierced and assimilated by the starlight, instantly ceasing to exist in the world.

If Miss Surtr saw Mona's prophecy in Teyvat, she would find that this radiance was remarkably similar to the one that killed Celestia.

However... there is no however.

She simply continued to fulfill her promise and explain the truth.

"A force from beyond the heavens, or rather, from beyond the universe, struck its chosen protagonists, and traced back along the trail of 'fate' to its nascent essence."

Then, they killed this most powerful star spirit.

The projection transformed into the Earth. And the Earth was pierced by a string of starlight, like a freshly made candied hawthorn.

"Its death process lasted fifty years. And seven days ago was the day it took its last breath—its death also meant the death of this planet. Because that glimmer of starlight from beyond the realm did not completely dissipate. Instead, it spread to all the gods in the Mythical Realm with its death—the gods will fall and go mad. Then all the gods in the Mythical Realm will revive on the surface and fight each other until only one remains."

Miss Surtr winked mockingly.

"Humanity is definitely going to go extinct, and Earth will probably be destroyed. Perhaps the entire solar system will be doomed. If I hadn't arrived at this time and spent seven days finding out these truths—you should really be thankful that I've experienced too many global crises, so I discovered it in time."

"But you are also unfortunate. Because if I had taken Persephone with me, perhaps I would have had a little more time. And I might not have had to resort to such extreme measures to deal with everything on the ground."

Time flows by silently.

Sometime during the night, the midnight mark had already passed. Cinderella had also taken off her glass slippers— Miss Surtr gazed at the silver-haired knight before her. She watched as that delicate face suddenly flushed red, then turned pale, and finally a trembling, ashen green.

The knight instinctively knelt down in front of her.

"I... I am utterly terrified! My King..." The silver-haired girl gritted her teeth, blood seeping from the corner of her lips. "What you just said... was it... was it a mockery of your subject?"

"Escaping reality? Unfortunately, no." Miss Surtr turned her head to look at the outside of the Ferris wheel. A tide of Curse Power, like a tidal wave, was gathering and coalescing around her. "I spent seven days stealing a portion of God's divine power and authority using blasphemous priestly methods, forging a karmic bond with it, and gaining the authority to open the Heavenly Realm. But now is not the time to directly storm Heaven; after all, one should pick on the weakest link."

"However... my actions may not be able to arrive before all the divine realms descend. Because the Genesis ritual is merely a professional habit I use to accumulate power. I only truly learned about all of this yesterday."

"So, knight, pray."

"I pray I can make it in time. I pray that the divine realm descends a little slower than I can."

She rose and stepped out of the Ferris wheel capsule, still suspended in the sky. At the edge of her vision, a massive reverse séance was underway.

The prayers of believers changed drastically. She was given the title of Japan's highest god, her mythology was altered, and she rose to the heavens on the tide of this faith.

She decided to start from Takama-ga-hara and travel westward, slaughtering all the gods and immortals in heaven and earth.

Chapter 132 The Journey West

Leisure time is over.

Now, it was time to return to her post and continue working. No longer wearing glass slippers, Cinderella no longer needed the pumpkin carriage and the guardian knight—she left Liliana behind and took her first step. With her third step, she stood at the very center of the sacrificial ceremony.

The believers prayed and worshipped even louder because of her appearance, slamming their upper bodies onto the ground again and again with loud thuds. Their cracked foreheads, crooked noses, and broken front teeth were more intense than burning flames, but Miss Surtr paid them no heed even for a moment.

She saw Athena and Luo Hao standing beside her waiting for her... ah, and Erica, who had been resurrected.

Erica's survival was inevitable, as the resurrected incarnation of the God of War resided within her. Even in death, she would be awakened from the underworld time and again, her body and flesh rebuilt. When Erica saw her, she hurriedly opened her mouth to speak.

"Your Majesty! What you commanded—"

Miss Surtr raised her hand, stopping her from saying what she was about to say.

"No need to say more, I already know the whole truth. Power has left a record on you, and I now know more in detail and more deeply than you intend to tell."