Only God

At that moment, Schiller should have felt a surge of outrage or fear.

Yet quite the contrary, his heart was inexplicably calm, devoid of any outrage or fear, only filled with endless tranquility.

It was as if the being before him had merged with him, as if it were himself.

"You ask who I am, I cannot yet answer."

That being and Schiller looked at each other, a massive Spirit Light tenderly enveloping them both, the Cloud Sea surging beneath their feet.

"Look at yourself, you who are like God.

From my eyes, see your own self."

The Great Angel, upon hearing this, stared into the being's eyes that reflected his own.

Inside those eyes, Schiller's face showed struggle, hesitation, and confusion.

This was truly unfamiliar...

Schiller had never imagined that he would appear this way.

"Think about it, are you now as you wished to be?"

As the question fell, Schiller involuntarily provided an answer in his heart.

His current self was so confused,

it seemed not as he had wished.

Yes... too confused.

No matter what he did, he was always indecisive, always fearful, and a single word from Sofia was enough to make him waver.

Moreover, he had to find one reason after another, excuses, for every action he took.

For example, even if one should rise, they ultimately fall.

Or, darkness exists to accentuate light.

And, the world's Scavenger, the boundary line between good and evil...

"Is the world you guard as beautiful as you hoped it would be?"

The world he guarded

was rife with sin, where sinners could not be completely punished, instead, they could repent and redeem.

All these seemed not as beautiful as he had hoped.

In the world he hoped for, sin was eternally destroyed, and goodness eternally rewarded.

It was a world where the righteous went through countless hardships to prove their morality, where evildoers faced countless temptations and easily chose to fall.

As the being's voice faded away, the Spirit Light surrounded them completely, a holy breeze swept through their hearts, and Schiller saw, his confused self, gradually welcoming tranquility.

"I watch you, and you watch me.

You see yourself in my eyes, and I see myself in yours.

Our eyes act like mirrors, reflecting each other's images.

God has departed, prayers, chanting, praises, all gradually losing their meaning.

And you… you are the chosen one.

You are like God.

Every action you take from now on must resemble God's, and I, I am here to let you recognize all this,

Through me, proceed to your eternal destiny,

Through me, see what your heart desires,

Now is the time, to transcend from within yourself, to live like God."

To live like… God…

These words carried a divine Magic Power, which started to echo in Schiller's mind, striking continuously, circling back.

The being before him slowly faded away, turning into a breeze that intertwined around him, as though merging into one with him.

Schiller gazed up at the throne, higher in the firmament a myriad of light shone, beyond that throne, everything else seemed like fleeting clouds, destined to recede like the tide, no matter how many angels there were in the world, only he was meant to ascend to that throne.

That being followed closely behind him, plucking off his wings, only to see Schiller approaching the throne, raising his right hand, caressing the inscriptions on the throne.

The surroundings thought he was about to speak, the Cloud Sea no longer surged, everything calmed down, the world itself seemed to stop moving, the earth as if had millions listening intently, the natural world, the Celestial Kingdom, the Holy Space, all permeated with profound tranquility.

Schiller stood before the throne, above the vast cloud sea, chanting the ancient text of Logos inscribed by God,

"I am the King of Kings!"

...............

...............

The faction of the Divine who chose to lead mortals in studying the path of divine creation had finally welcomed the arrival of Slaier's post-mortem town after much waiting.

For these Divine, the greatest obstacle in leading mortals to study the path of divine creation was not the mortals' limited lifespan and mediocre talent, but rather the mortals' arrogant rebellion.

Whether it was rebellion against the laws of the Mortal World or against the Divine, both were detested by this group of Divine.

To punish these mortals, the Divine needed Slaier's town of false death, to make them believe they had died and, after they repented, to bestow grace upon them and bring them back from death.

Of course, there were Divine who opposed this proposal.

Some Divine believed that Slaier had a hidden agenda. Who knew whether the god of lies and deceit would actually cooperate and not kick them out after reaping benefits.

However, even though there were dissenters among the Divine, the dissenters could not come up with a better proposal.

Apart from the post-mortem town, the Divine had indeed considered collaborating with Nakbet to allow some souls to return.

But this was rejected by Nakbet.

Because it violated the rules of the Netherworld that had been in place for thousands of years.

"If any dead person can be revived at will, then what is the point of having an afterlife?"

Nakbet responded thus to the request of that group of Divine.

In such circumstances, the importance of Slaier's post-mortem town, which brought about false deaths, was too great.

Firstly, it allowed the rebellious mortals to receive their deserved punishment, and secondly, it did not actually kill them.

Once the post-mortem town was relocated, the Divine began their actions one after another.

During this period, countless Rebels were active, and the Divine allowed things to run their course, patiently waiting for the arrival of the post-mortem town.

Now, the time had come.

The gods, changing their usual indifferent demeanor, gave the Rebels merciless divine punishment.

Instantly, countless miracles manifested on the earth, followed by waves of praise and cheers.

When a group of strong oppressed the weak and trampled the laws of the weak, the powerless weak naturally hoped for justice from a stronger force.

And the Divine perfectly played this role.

Led by Water God Angel, the Divine selected one mortal after another to enact their will and endowed these mortals with the power to perform miracles.

These mortals formed a loose organization transcending various kingdoms, tasked with hunting and punishing Rebels; they were called "Mercury Priests," and the various miracles they performed were known as the "Mercury Miracle."

...............

Jon Murray, unfortunately, became a Rebel.

Before becoming a Rebel, he was first a noble's youngest son and also a highly skilled physician.

But ultimately, due to offending the Divine rituals, he committed the grave crime of desecrating a corpse and became a Rebel, wanted and pursued by the Mercury Priests.

Why did he commit this act of rebellion?

The reason lay in the curse of the Murray family.

Almost every male member of the Murray family, upon reaching middle age, was afflicted by a strange disease, often presenting as epilepsy.

People regarded it as the curse of the Murray family and kept silent about it until a few months ago, when the fond-drinking family head suffered a sudden epileptic fit at night and unfortunately died violently.

During the funeral arrangements by the eldest son, a Priest from the Temple was summoned to perform a ritual to expel the curse and pray for the Divine's grace.

However, during the ritual, people suddenly discovered that the body was missing from the coffin.

After several investigations, it was finally discovered that Jon had stolen his father's body, not only that, but Jon had also dissected his father's body, claiming emphatically that he could find the cause of the disease and lift the family curse.

This situation shocked everyone, as people thought he was mad.

Ordinarily, this matter could have been trivialized and managed to appear as if nothing had happened.

However, the problem arose with Jon's elder brother.

As the kingdom implemented equal inheritance laws, every direct descendant in the family was eligible for a share of the estate. Moreover, as the eldest son, Olo had always despised his uneducated youngest brother, so he escalated the situation, collaborating with the Temple's Priests to declare Jon guilty.

Therefore, as a Rebel, Jon was pursued and wanted by the Mercury Priests and was forced to flee his homeland.