The Paladin in the Abyss-Chapter 734 - 755: The Battle of Gods
(Update first, then revise later)
"At that moment, Shrek, unwilling to accept his fate, yelled, ’No! All that I have been through was for...’ Ao turned to the thief and roared, ’Silence! I don’t mind being challenged, but don’t make me feel like I made a terrible decision in choosing a candidate for the new god.’"
"Damn it," Lancelot said as he pulled the flask from his lips, "I’m starting to dislike where this story is going."
"The Lord of the Gods looked straight at the thief who stood before him, betrayed through murder, and asked, ’This is what you wanted, isn’t it?’ Shrek stumbled as he ran up the steps, yelling ’Yes! Yes! Thank you, my lord, I will serve you well!’ Ao let out a deep, cruel chuckle, ’Do not thank me, evil Shrek. Becoming the god of strife, murder, and the dead is no gift. You wanted divinity, you wanted great power, you wanted to control your own destiny, but you can only have two of these. You will have divinity and power in the Land of the Dead, and you may inflict all the sufferings of the mortal world as you please, but you will never again know satisfaction and happiness. What you most desire, Shrek, will never come to fruition. Now you belong to me, and you will serve me... and those who worship you. I am quite certain that before long, you will find the freedom you had as a mere street thief in Santiel Fortress sadly lacking.’
’That is… a very interesting judgment,’ Lancelot scratched his head, ’Then what?’
’The subsequent details involve the current God of Magic, so they are only vaguely recorded,’ Kalalin shrugged, ’Ao said that as a punishment for the theft, He caused Bane and Milko to dissipate, but Misla, the giver of magic, also disappeared, and even the Supreme Deity Himself could not bring Misla back. Therefore, He proposed making Midnight, who had inherited Misla’s power, the new Goddess of Magic. However, Midnight initially refused, saying that becoming a deity was not her purpose in seeking the Destiny Stone, and she had no interest in corrupting herself like Shrek. Ao said, ’I have taken away a mortal for his viciousness and cruelty, and I thought to take another for her wisdom and sincerity.’"
’The old man is trying to balance again,’ Starlight Strike interjected, ’He’s really obsessed with this so-called balance, good and evil, chaos and order, as if the universe will fall into some terrible catastrophe once balance is lost...’
’So Midnight was persuaded just like that?’ Lancelot inquired.
’It was Anton, the former Priest Shuni, who persuaded her. He told Midnight that she should accept it; otherwise, Shrek would truly win. Anton’s words reminded her of the dead in the Domain of the Vague who had once helped her, making her realize that Cranvo’s soul was in the Land of the Dead. So she told the Lord of the Gods that she accepted His proposal, and she would make sure Shrek would forever regret betraying his friends.’
’And then?’
"Then Ao raised his hand, and the heavenly ladder along with everything above vanished within a beam of light so dazzling that it momentarily blinded the tens of thousands of Deepwater City citizens who had been gazing upon the mountaintop. The column of light rose up among the cities sheltered by hundreds of gods, and every saint who had descended to the mortal realm returned to their homelands in the Outer Realms. Midnight became the new Goddess of Magic and, in order to minimize the chaos among her followers, she took Mistrala as her divine name and immediately healed the scars on Anton’s face, who then became her first priest. Shrek inherited all the divine offices of the Triumvirate of Death, and Yago gladly accepted the reality of having a new master. The Cataclysm of the Saints thus came to an end, but its aftereffects..."
"Hold on a moment." Lancelot held his forehead, "What about Cranvo? From the story I just heard, he was killed by Shrek, So why is he said to be the current Grim Reaper?"
"Patience, I was just getting to that, but you interrupted me," Kalalin said helplessly, giving Lancelot a glance, "Just to be clear, what I’m about to tell you doesn’t have as many eyewitnesses as the final scene of the Cataclysm of the Saints. These are the accounts of the victors, namely Midnight and Cranvo’s side, while Prince of Lies Shrek obviously has a completely different perspective. However, given his past actions, scholars believe the version told by Midnight and Cranvo to be closer to the truth. Shortly after Shrek and Midnight ascended to godhood, they nearly instantly clashed. Midnight summoned eleven great divine powers, accusing Shrek of shaking mortal faith by masquerading as other deities, and then killing them before they could recover their convictions. This way, he could arbitrarily punish them under the pretense that they were false believers, and Tom himself testified against him in the celestial court..."
"Do the gods also convene a court?" Lancelot asked curiously, "Do they have the right to dispose of another god?"
"No, but if they can reach a consensus, they can summon the presence of Ao... You know, if a bunch of followers decide to call upon a deity together, no matter how foolish the reason, that deity will at least show up to some extent," Kalalin shrugged, "However, Ao refused to strip Shrek of his divine office. ’Spreading lies and chaos is Shrek’s duty, and opposing him is your duty,’ the Supreme Deity said. And so Midnight immediately issued an edict of ultimate sanction against Shrek on the spot, completely banning him from using the Magic Net because theoretically, as a once mortal female mage, she had every right to do so."
"Why didn’t Midnight strike at that moment?" Lancelot scratched his head, "As one of the mightiest deities, the Goddess of Magic should have been more powerful than the trusted Lord of the Dead, right?"
"Ah, gods are a bit different from us; they can be both here and there," Kalalin wracked his brain for the adjectives, "You could think of them as having many torches circling their heads, with these torches casting many shadows. Some shadows go to answer the prayers of the followers, some grant divine arts to their priests, and others attend a hearing against themselves. Their true forms are always in their own Divine Kingdoms, and unless they have completely lost their minds, a god is almost impossible to kill within their own kingdom, and Midnight, who also had the responsibility of managing the Magic Net, couldn’t just rashly go after Shrek to fight to the death. Otherwise, the Lord of All Gods might act first to strip her of her divine office..."
"Sigh, well, that makes sense," Lancelot sighed, "Being a god isn’t that free after all."
"Of course, divinity and divine office are bound together; to become a god means to undertake certain responsibilities," Kalalin shrugged, "And naturally, Shrek also wanted to avenge the humiliation from Midnight. Logically, he should have had an ace up his sleeve against Midnight—the soul of Cranvo. However, there was a problem: he searched every corner of the Domain of the Vague but couldn’t find Cranvo’s soul. It was as if someone had hidden the warrior away."
