Opposing Players

Mount Celestia.

The atmosphere here remains gentle and tranquil. Beautiful and exotic flowers, plants, and trees are everywhere, and the scenery, living up to its name as Heaven, is enough to make anyone feel refreshed and relaxed.

"We failed again."

A soft, pleasant male voice rang out, carrying an irresistible majesty and a hint of absolute divinity. This voice even caused the animals that had been playing among the flowers and grass to stop what they were doing. They uneasily gazed at the ethereal sky, then abandoned their joyful play and lowered their heads.

The man sitting in the Temple on Mount Celestia had an equally cold expression. He wore a strange, never-before-seen blue long robe, and his dark eyes revealed a hint of anger and doubt.

"What exactly happened? The great God of Justice?"

Seeing their god so solemn, the angels below couldn't help but feel a little surprised. Then, one angel walked up to the man and asked in a low voice.

"I feel that five of the Weapon Spirit I created have completely lost contact."

The God of Justice sighed, raised his head, and looked at his subordinates and followers.

"It seems the Magic Empire's methods are indeed formidable."

"But weren't they once defeated by you? Great God, under the glorious light of your justice, these evil sorcerers..."

The angel stopped speaking abruptly, for she saw that the God of Justice was showing a hint of impatience.

In fact, the God of Justice was truly facing a difficult situation.

After defeating the Magic Empire a thousand years ago, the God of Justice paid no further attention to this destroyed empire. He devoted himself entirely to unifying the Upper Planes. It must be said that, relying on his powerful talents, the God of Justice has annihilated most of the gods and seized their divine offices and powers. Over the years, apart from a few high-ranking gods who resisted him due to their divine attributes, the rest have either been completely destroyed or become his subordinates. Therefore, although the God of Justice has not yet completely conquered the entire Upper Planes, he already considers himself the ruler of the entire Upper Planes. Moreover, even the Prime Material Plane is already within his grasp.

After all, thanks to the God of Justice's hard work over the years, the other temples of gods on the Prime Material Plane have been almost completely destroyed. The God of Justice has occupied most of the faith on the Prime Material Plane, but this is still somewhat of a shortcoming for him.

Although the God of Justice had completely destroyed the Three Supreme Gods by relying on his own talent, he discovered a strange problem when he calmed down.

He will not advance.

Gods also have ranks: Lesser God have just become gods, Intermediate God who have gained some strength, and then there are the Greater God who possess the most powerful strength, almost equivalent to those standing at the pinnacle—and then there are the Three Supreme Gods who truly reside at the pinnacle.

The God of Justice originally believed that by eliminating the Three Supreme Gods, he could obtain the highest status and become the Supreme God, no longer Greater God. However, after destroying the Supreme God, the God of Justice was frustrated to find that he remained Greater God, but had not absorbed the Supreme God gods to become the Supreme God.

The hierarchy among gods is not merely a matter of class; it also represents their power. Lesser God is simply a newly ascended deity, insignificant to other gods, but already overwhelmingly powerful to mortals. Upon reaching the level of a mid-level or higher god, a god can separate some of their minor divine duties, allowing others to collect faith power on their behalf. For example, the duties of the God of Justice were originally separated from the God of Order. Upon becoming Greater God, gods possess absolute control over mortals; the ability to Instantly Slay Mortal Creatures annihilate mortals is irresistible, transcending the limits of mere physical strength and becoming a powerful form of control.

Above that lies Supreme God authority.

The God of Justice certainly understood the implications. The power of the Supreme God far surpassed that of the Greater God. While the Greater God could control mortals, that was all. But the Supreme God could control everything! They were omnipresent and had the power to control every event, every plane, and every being!

This is true control over everything.

At least that's how the God of Justice understands it.

However, after expending his strength to Three Supreme Gods, he was surprised to find that although his power had increased considerably, his rank had not risen at all; he remained Greater God and had not yet become Supreme God. This puzzled the God of Justice, because ever since he obtained the power of the God of Justice, he had always believed that as long as he could kill a high-ranking god, he could obtain that power. But now it seemed that things were not as simple as he had thought.

However, the God of Justice did not know why.

Although he could kill those gods and absorb their divine power and authority, their thoughts could not be absorbed. In other words, the God of Justice knew nothing about the secrets known only to the Greater God. Moreover, he had no allies in the Upper Planes. Apart from a few Lesser God who were willing to abandon their divine authority to follow him, almost all the other Intermediate God and Greater God chose to fight to the death against the God of Justice's attacks.

To be honest, such resistance was somewhat unexpected for the God of Justice. After all, he was not a true god and did not understand how profound the power of the gods' rules was to them. Under such circumstances, many gods would not be able to surrender even if they wanted to, because once they did, their power of rules would immediately leave them, which would be no different from dying in battle.

Moreover, there is also the Great Book of Law.

This thorn remained deeply embedded in the heart of the God of Justice, for on the eve of his invasion of the God of Storms' divine realm, which he led his Angel Legion to destroy him, this mad and tyrannical god had shouted these very words before his death.

"I will never yield! As long as the Great Book of Law exists, I will one day return to this world!"

Of course, the words of a tyrannical individual with a tyrannical divine nature, and belonging to the chaotic faction, are not very credible. However, this matter did catch the attention of the God of Justice. After destroying the Three Supreme Gods, he did indeed obtain the Great Book of Law within the Supreme Temple, but in the God of Justice's eyes, it was merely an ordinary holy book. He had also read its records, and apart from some descriptions of the rules of Upper Planes that offered nothing new, it didn't hide many secrets. The book didn't seem to possess any power whatsoever; it was just an ordinary book.

But what secret does it hold?

Although the God of Justice tried to find the connection, he was unable to do so. This seemed to be an absolute secret to all the gods, so even though the God of Justice put in considerable effort, he could not get an answer from any of them.

However, things always have to go on.

Since he couldn't find a way to become Supreme God in the Upper Planes, the God of Justice turned his attention to the Lower Planes. After all, he was also a god and knew things unknown to others. In the Lower Planes, there were also demon lords whose power was no less than that of gods; perhaps they were also the key to the problem. Moreover, the God of Justice had other plans. Even if he couldn't find a way to become Supreme God in the Lower Planes, as long as he could rule the Nine Levels of Hell, then he would essentially be no different from Supreme God.

However, the God of Justice did not expect that the Prime Material Plane, which he had always thought would never have any problems, would suddenly encounter issues at this very moment.

The Magic Empire that I should have destroyed has actually resurfaced! And, surprisingly, not all the Arcane Mage are dead?

At first, the God of Justice didn't pay much attention. After all, the Five-Nation Alliance was powerful, and the mages had been completely controlled. Even if the Magic Empire made a comeback, under his "propaganda offensive," the Magic Empire had long become a rat that everyone wanted to kill. They could not possibly receive any support or assistance from anyone.

What followed was completely unexpected by the God of Justice.

He never expected that the Magic Empire wouldn't even bother with the pretense of the "Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence," but instead launched a brutal massacre against the Five-Nation Alliance! Moreover, it openly established a powerful undead legion! This clearly showed their intention to annihilate the Five-Nation Alliance!

Does he really think he has that kind of power? To destroy the Five-Nation Alliance with just his own country?!

Subsequently, the God of Justice had to admit that he indeed possessed such power, as well as such certainty and confidence.

The battle with the Federation completely shattered the God of Justice's doubts. Although he had fought mages before, he had never directly fought an arcane Arcane Mage. The methods Li Lin used clearly shocked him. He had previously believed that the Prime Material Plane was already under his control, and that the Prime Material Plane he consumed there was merely a characteristic of the plane. But after this battle, the God of Justice realized that the Prime Material Plane had never been under his control.

Upon realizing this, the God of Justice immediately panicked. The Prime Material Plane is essentially a logistical base for gods; they can only draw their maximum faith power from it. If the Magic Empire were to wipe out the Five-Nation Alliance, his faith power would immediately weaken, leaving him vulnerable to defeat in the upcoming battles.

It's important to understand that the God of Justice is currently mired in an inescapable quagmire. He not only faces the counterattacks of the Greater God but also the equally cunning counterattacks of the demons. The Lower Planes, like the Prime Material Plane, are not places where gods can intervene. Moreover, the powerful corruption of the Lower Planes is causing the God of Justice to suffer considerable losses. If the Prime Material Plane is completely severed, his army in the Lower Planes will be immediately devoured by the demons who have been eyeing him for a long time.

Although the God of Justice has many Lesser God under his command, he cannot send these people to the Prime Material Plane to kill the Magic Empire, because even a god with zero divinity is still a god, and the loss of a god's power in the Prime Material Plane is irreparable.

However, the Magic Empire exists on the Prime Material Plane.

The God of Justice is now at a loss, like a mouse trying to pull a turtle. He still doesn't understand why an Arcane Mage has absolute control over the Prime Material Plane, or why he can forcibly seal his divine magic within Prime Material Plane. But the God of Justice understands one thing: if he doesn't retaliate, everything will be over.

Therefore, he dispatched his archangel Gabriel, along with the Divine Envoys of the Seven Commandments he created based on the Weapon Spirit of the Magic Empire, to the area, hoping they could turn the tide in his stead.

Meanwhile, the God of Justice was also carrying out his democratic plan, which Li Lin considered utterly idiotic.

The God of Justice had long considered this plan, hoping to build a more democratic, fair, free, and beautiful world. Although he had wanted to target the Five-Nation Alliance for a long time, he hadn't found the opportunity. While the God of Justice's power within the Five-Nation Alliance was considerable, in the years following the destruction of the Magic Empire, the Five-Nation Alliance had made little progress; rather, their civilization had also completely declined along with the fall of the Magic Empire. In fact, within the Five-Nation Alliance, there were undoubtedly those who felt that "decades of hard work had been wiped out overnight." Everything powered by Magic Power was either destroyed or... They were either burned or completely discarded into the corners of warehouses, becoming junk. The very heart of the Magic Empire's civilization had long been utterly destroyed by Arcane Mage before their defeat, leaving not a trace. Subsequently, the development of the Five-Nation Alliance entered a strangely unstable phase. Although they had developed for a thousand years, their political system had not undergone any significant changes. Originally, the God of Justice thought that as long as the Magic Empire was destroyed, they should be able to develop capitalism on their own and then enter the stage of democratic countries and societies, and he only needed to give them a push. However, he never expected that after a thousand years, the Five-Nation Alliance would remain unchanged.

It must be admitted that the God of Justice overlooked one thing: the existence of gods.

If Li Lin were here and knew the God of Justice's question, then he could tell the God of Justice this with certainty.

Back on Earth, Li Lin had naturally studied its political system. Of course, those systems gave Li Lin quite a headache. As an Arcane Mage, he didn't approve of political systems that were "beautiful on the surface, but only on the surface." However, he also discovered that Earth's political development path was closely related to the absence of gods in their world. For example, scientists could claim that the world wasn't created by gods, nor were humans, but evolved from monkeys (although Li Lin considered this nonsense). While such statements would have angered the Church in the Middle Ages, leading to numerous punishments, these were all man-made, not divine intervention. If they couldn't see miracles, it was normal for humanity to gradually lose faith in the existence of gods, and consequently, they wouldn't believe that gods ruled their world.

Although that world also has beings like Angela who transcend humanity, the little one clearly has no interest in politics, and if she were to take action, perhaps only the dead would be left to rule this place.

However, in the Morning Wind Continent, the existence of gods is a real phenomenon. If anyone dared to make such a claim in this world, many gods would likely strike them down instantly. Furthermore, these kings and rulers are supported by the gods; what ordinary person would dare to rebel?

The God of Justice either genuinely failed to understand the underlying principles or chose to ignore them. However, after the war began, the self-proclaimed wise God of Justice found a method he deemed feasible: to implement political reforms he had never undertaken before, under immense pressure from the Magic Empire.

As for whether the God of Justice has considered that the current democratic system relies not on "the power of the people themselves" but on "the deterrent power of the gods," that remains unknown.

But now, the God of Justice feels the pressure mounting.

He never imagined that the Divine Envoys of the Seven Sages he had placed such high hopes, would fail so quickly. The God of Justice had once studied the Weapon Spirit of the Magic Empire and ridiculed their methods of cultivating Weapon Spirit' autonomy as too primitive and ancient, completely unsuitable for the mass production of weapons. He thought it would be much faster to fuse human souls with weapons. But now it seemed that speed and quality were completely incomparable.

Since that's the case, I must make new preparations. The Magic Empire's power is gathering, so I must also gather my strength to deliver a fatal blow. Since the Divine Envoys of the Seven Sages failed, the next plan must also be changed. Although the timing is not yet ripe, the God of Justice doesn't want to achieve victory only after everyone is dead; that would be too late.

It seems we must devise a new strategy.

The God of Justice pondered for a moment, and then made a decision.