Behind Enemy Lines

Be careful, be cautious, be even more careful, be even more cautious.

The Goddess of Theft held her breath, carefully concealing herself in the shadows of Mount Celestia to avoid being discovered. Just moments ago, she had sensed a powerful divine force departing from the Supreme Temple, prompting Goddess of Theft to act. Although as a deity with the divine authority of thievery, she was capable of severing her aura from most other gods, she had to be extremely cautious in the face of this enigmatic God of Justice. Not only would the opposing divine authority of Justice sense her, but even those strange divine authorities he had absorbed, particularly those related to darkness and evil, would also sense her. Fortunately, the powerful dimensional bomb cast by the Arcane Mage had accomplished its purpose. Mount Celestia was now experiencing unprecedented chaos, leaving even the Goddess of Theft astonished at how seemingly opposite or completely incompatible forces could survive in such a distorted form.

The distorted power is destroying the very essence of Mount Celestia, which is why the God of Justice has personally intervened. However, neither Li Lin nor the Goddess of Theft realized that the bomb's power was not only beyond imagination, but also that the God of Justice couldn't completely suppress it. This isn't surprising, as the God of Justice is a fusion of several divine powers. Through his innate talent, he forcibly fused these powers, combining forces that were either righteous or evil. But precisely because of this, his power has become very similar to these fused forces. If he possessed pure divine power, he could easily extract the portion of the dimensional bomb's contamination source closest to him and concentrate his power to eliminate the portion opposite to his own attributes. But now, the God of Justice of God of Justice cannot do this. His power is both close to darkness and close to light, both evil and holy, making this a thorny problem for him.

However, this was the perfect opportunity for the Goddess of Theft.

Although time was of the essence, the Goddess of Theft proceeded cautiously. She knew that if she ran out of time, and the Arcane Mage sealed the Prime Material Plane, all her efforts would be in vain. However, her thieving nature kept her calm. She wouldn't be forced by the situation; she believed that only by acting at her own pace could she achieve her goals. She wouldn't be excited before success, nor would she be discouraged by failure. For a thief, as long as there was a chance, the possibility never disappeared.

The Supreme Temple.

Hidden in the darkness, gazing up at the magnificent Temple, the Goddess of Theft felt immense pressure. After all, it was the abode of the Supreme God Goddess of Theft, and the mere presence of this place made her feel somewhat inferior. However, this did not cause Goddess of Theft to panic. She nimbly crossed the stone bridge connecting the gates and then concealed herself at the Temple entrance. There were no angels in sight; it seemed the God of Justice had dispatched them all to battle. Even so, the Goddess of Theft remained vigilant.

That said, where exactly is the Great Book of Law?

Hidden in the shadows of the Temple corridor, the Goddess of Theft frowned in thought. Almost all the gods knew that the Great Book of Law was sealed within the Supreme Temple; this was hardly a secret to them. However, they hadn't investigated its exact location. They knew that only Arcane Mage could use the book, and in the hands of the gods, it was no different from a piece of waste paper. Besides, although this thing was incredibly powerful, in the Age of "Order," investigating the book would inevitably arouse suspicion from Arcane Mage and other gods. If he didn't want to be caught in the middle, it was best to stay out of it.

However, even the users of this book, the Arcane Mage, were unaware of its actual location. The reason was simple: the power of this Great Book of Law was far too immense. If Arcane Mage were to use it, it would cause unimaginable upheavals in the world of the gods. Moreover, just as Arcane Mage did not trust the gods, the Arcane Mage would not unconditionally trust them simply because they were guardians of order and rules. Otherwise, they would have simply entrusted the book to the Arcane Mage for safekeeping; why go through all this trouble? It was precisely for this reason that this Great Book of Law, capable of altering the entire world order, was ultimately kept by the Three Supreme Gods. They represented the origin of this universe and possessed sufficient power and prestige to act as its custodians. In fact, even if something were to happen, the Three Supreme Gods their power, would have ample time to travel to the Prime Material Plane and entrust the Great Book of Law to the Arcane Mage to initiate an "emergency plan."

However, no one expected that such an anomaly as the God of Justice would appear, causing the Three Supreme Gods to be completely annihilated without even a chance to escape. After all, a being immune to and capable of devouring divine power is simply a bug that shouldn't exist in this world.

This is why, when the Goddess of Theft arrived at her destination, she encountered this awkward dilemma—the gods knew the Great Book of Law was hidden in the Supreme Temple, but they didn't know exactly where. The Arcane Mage also knew the Great Book of Law was hidden in the Temple, but they, likewise, didn't know where it was.

This is why neither Li Lin nor the gods provided the Goddess of Theft with much information before her departure.

Because they themselves did not know where the Great Book of Law was.

Fortunately, the Goddess of Theft still had his own sources of information.

Although some things are unclear.

Please remember this: everything will be where it belongs.

This was the parting message given by the Lady of Secrets before the Goddess of Theft departed.

That damn parting message.

In fact, compared to her previous statements, the Lady of Secrets has revealed much more information this time, but this is not much better for the Goddess of Theft.

"This godforsaken place has five or six libraries alone, how am I supposed to find it!"

Having once again evaded the patrol of the divine servants, the Goddess of Theft gritted his teeth and muttered a complaint. In fact, although the structures of the Temple of various gods differed, their internal layouts were not significantly different. As the Goddess of Theft, who was "unrivaled in stealing from all over the world," he was naturally very familiar with the arrangement of these Temple. However, the most troublesome thing was that the Supreme Temple was the residence of three Supreme God, so everything had to be calculated at double the price, and the library was no exception.

The Goddess of Theft wouldn't be foolish enough to search every library. If the thieves shared the same attribute as him, all would be well, but if they shared the opposite attribute, he would be the one who suffers.

She was thinking, considering the possibilities.

Where should we go? Where should we go? In which library will the God of Justice place the Great Book of Law?

Ultimately, the Goddess of Theft made a decision.

"That's the only way."

She gritted her teeth and silently stepped back into the corridor. Then, her figure flashed, and the Goddess of Theft vanished once more.

At this moment, the battle on the Prime Material Plane also entered a state of intense conflict.

Angela remained at the eye of the storm—this was no metaphor. In fact, under the relentless onslaught of the Angel Legion from Mount Celestia, the little one had abandoned her usual time-wasting fighting style. Instead, she wielded her enormous scythe, creating powerful whirlwinds that swept across the surrounding area, sucking all the winged angels into the turbulent airflow and then grinding them into dust like soybeans in a mill.

Catherine remained steadfast in her mission, but this time she wasn't alone; she was fighting alongside Gabriel's Angel Legion. After a period of attrition warfare, Gabriel's Angel Legion was struggling to withstand the enemy's charge. Unable to hold them off any longer, Catherine had no choice but to join forces with Gabriel to launch an attack. Her previous duties were now entirely handed over to the Ringwraith City's ground forces. Their steel fortresses used crossfire to seal the breach, and pure, powerful magic annihilated any angels attempting to break through.

However, this is still only a temporary solution and not a fundamental cure.

"This is a war of attrition."

Li Lin's face was gloomy.

"Will Miss Angela be unable to stop it?"

As the battle progressed, Nia also became serious. Although they had long anticipated that this would be a war of attrition, it was still something they found difficult to bear.

"Angela can handle it, but it's not safe."

As Li Lin answered Nia's question, he recalled Angela's confession before the battle.

"I can turn these winged hens to dust before they can even cluck, my master."

For the first time, a brilliance that Li Lin couldn't understand shone in Angela's bright red eyes.

"My essence, life and death, originates from the most fundamental existence of the entire world. Therefore, if I were to seize all the life force of this plane and transform it into a complete dead zone, neither humans nor gods could enter it. However, I believe that you, my master, would not wish to spend the rest of your life in a gray, dead world, would you?"

"Of course, so you'd better not use that kind of terrifying, absolute killing move."

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh..."

Angela chuckled softly in response to Li Lin's reply.

"This decision is not mine, Master. If you cannot prevent things from reaching that point, then I will use the power of my origin to 'die' this plane completely. So, if you wish me not to use that power, then please don't let things reach that point."

That's for sure.

"I don't want to spend the rest of my life in a plane of death, experiencing defeat and misery."

Li Lin let out a long sigh.

"Notify Gabriel and Catherine to withdraw. Simultaneously launch an attack on the Ringwraith City and transition to attack mode!"

The telepathic message immediately entered everyone's minds through an invisible connection. Then, Gabriel and Catherine immediately retreated, and at the same time, the Ringwraith City gradually began to change.

The six auxiliary cities revolving around the main city suddenly began to change. The shimmering City of Crystal slowly rose, and the crystal-clear mirrors that had covered the ground dispersed from the earth, slowly spreading and enveloping the entire floating city. At the same time, the vines that had been coiling and spreading City of Nature began to extend, easily connecting the other five auxiliary cities to the main city like branches and leaves of a tree. The residential areas and non-combat areas were completely wrapped by the vines and firmly fixed in the safest place.

Then, a massive, dark array of cannons appeared at the very front of the Ringwraith City.