His Grace Absent, You Should All Still Be Grateful for His Blessing

"Buzz."

After a flash of illusory light, the figure of Lord Aurora appeared high in the sky, clad in magnificent armor. He trod the air with all four hooves and spread his rainbow-colored wings, hovering aloft.

Seated in the saddle, Lord Paine held his holy lance and looked down. The entire Brass Dwarf fortress, along with the surrounding land, had sunk in an instant, as though an invisible fist had slammed into the ground. Dust billowed everywhere as an entire section of the mountain collapsed.

The burning gold Lord Hadland had ignited at the last moment to destroy the warp rift had already shattered the underground structure of the region. But that wasn't all. Old Edward, behind Lord Aurora, narrowed his eyes. He could clearly feel a destructive force gathering beneath the ground.

It was as if that first tremor had merely lit the fuse. The real blast was still to come.

"The warp rift is collapsing. It's about to unleash an immense destructive force, just like what happened at Ice Bay two hundred years ago. The Brass Fortress is doomed."

Lord Paine spoke softly.

Old Edward furrowed his brow. He'd never imagined he'd be fortunate enough to witness this coming disaster with his own eyes for a second time in his life. He didn't even need to think hard to understand what the Brass Fortress's collapse at this moment meant for a continent already sliding into chaos.

"Compared to this long-corrupted fortress, I'm more interested in that giant we just saw."

Old Edward asked quietly,

"That was a god, wasn't it?

I've never seen a god come into being before. But how should I put it? The spectacle was smaller than I expected. I thought ascension to godhood would be more solemn—like the sky splitting open or the tides