In the silent chaos of the void currents.
This was the crevice between planes, where violent tides of elemental energy swept through mercilessly, as if seeking to drag everything into oblivion.
Yet in such a perilous place, a terrifying floating city stood proudly above the turbulent currents, resembling an impregnable fortress that had endured since time immemorial.
"Welcome home, Master!" The flower-spirit butler Sharin materialized directly, greeting her arriving master.
Only after entering the City of Shadows did Raylin finally let out a sigh of relief.
Only by relying on the arcane arrays here could he be confident in shielding himself from the prying eyes of those gods, as well as other divination spells and the like.
"You did well, Illyrio!"
After tossing his coat to the puppet golem serving nearby, Raylin turned to the lich Illyrio who was following behind him.
"It is my honor to serve, Master!"
Illyrio was still in his crystal skeleton form at this point, wearing a formal suit resembling a black tuxedo—the black jacket paired with his crystal bones gave off an eerily harmonious appearance—and upon hearing these words, he immediately pressed his right hand to his chest.
Though Raylin knew perfectly well the words were not sincere, at least Illyrio's actions still followed his commands, and that was enough.
Earlier, upon realizing that the hunt for the god's avatar ran far deeper than expected, Raylin had immediately contacted Illyrio through his phylactery, ordering him to lie in wait and strike at the opportune moment.
Now it seemed that this lich had truly become cunning with age—his grasp of timing and his application of spells had reached a level of absolute perfection.
Had it not been for a combination of fortunate circumstances—the suppression of the floating city and the advantage of holding his phylactery—even the current Raylin might not have been able to subdue him.
"Also, your identity won't be recognized, will it?"
The skeletal lich Illyrio was synonymous with difficulty and death in the Material World, and had recently become linked to the City of Shadows as well—which compelled Raylin to press further.
"Please rest assured, Master. Everything I used were common necromancy spells, and I even left behind some peculiar little clues pointing toward other liches..."
A sinister laugh emanated from beneath Illyrio's skull: "If they actually follow the clues I left behind, the final scene will certainly be quite entertaining..."
Seeing that expression on Illyrio's face, Raylin couldn't help but silently mourn for those paladins.
After sending Illyrio off, Raylin turned to look at the flower fairy.
"Master, after you left, I've been diligently managing the entire floating city the whole time. That lich has also been working hard. It's already been repaired..."
Xia Lin immediately flew to Raylin's shoulder and began chattering away with her report.
She had originally been the intelligence core of the Nether City. After her previous master's death, she had even independently managed the entire floating city for tens of thousands of years. Naturally, she was well-versed in these matters, and Raylin nodded from time to time as he listened.
Under his repairs, the Nether City had begun to slowly recover, and the energy provided by the Mythal Core was being continuously stockpiled. Sooner or later, it would regain power formidable enough to stand against deities!
"Excellent! Take me to the innermost containment chamber, and set aside 20% of the Mythal Core's energy reserves for use... Also, pull out all the stockpiled Arcane Dust, Golem Rainbow Crystals... everything!"
Raylin glanced at the enormous arcane net in his hand. Now, it was time to deal with Mara's incarnation.
After all, the other party was a deity's incarnation, and might still possess hidden abilities. For safety's sake, it would be best to handle this within the floating city.
"Although I deliberately abandoned a small portion, the remaining divine power and Mara's divine consciousness, along with the divine domain information contained within, should still be enough for me to refine a strand of Killing Divinity..."
He brought Mara's incarnation to the floating city's core containment chamber. After all the defenses had been activated, Raylin finally opened the Arcane Net in his hands, revealing the true appearance of Mara's incarnation.
The other party had transformed into a large mass of golden, jelly-like substance, resembling an enormous slime, completely motionless — as if it were nothing more than a pile of dead matter.
"Although I hit it hard before, it shouldn't have been reduced to this extent..."
Raylin shook his head. "I'm afraid the most fundamental divine consciousness, and the deity's will itself, are likely lurking within that divine power... waiting to devour me in return..."
For the incomprehensibly powerful and tenacious will of a deity, even the soul of a high-ranking Legendary appeared fragile and inadequate.
Throughout the history of the Material Plane, there had been many who harbored delusions of devouring divinity, only to be devoured by deities and transformed into incarnations. Even those who succeeded by sheer luck often became madmen, their natures utterly transformed.
"A pity... but for me, all your schemes — are nothing but dreams!!!"
Raylin dipped his finger directly into the semi-solid divine power on the ground. "You think the primal will of a mere beast can devour me?"
The moment his consciousness made contact with the will of Mara's incarnation, a terrifying phantom of an enormous serpent flashed through Raylin's eyes.
The Tagilian Winged Serpent, having absorbed the power of the Nightmare, seemed to have entered some deeper, more unfathomable state. It even resonated faintly with the divine world, its power continuously growing.
After sensing that will, the Slime suddenly contracted violently, but it had already been restrained by Raylin with prepared measures. With nowhere to go, it was seized directly into his hand. A terrifying devouring force erupted explosively from his body.
"It's begun…"
Raylin closed his eyes and entered the contest of wills along with the process of divine essence conversion and refinement.
……
The contest of wills needed no elaboration — Mara's incarnation couldn't even resist before the Tagilian Winged Serpent devoured it outright. It even leaked out fragments of information regarding divine domains.
By the time Raylin opened his eyes, a strand of dark-gold divine essence was already coiling ceaselessly around his hand.
"So this is… the power of the divine essence of Slaughter?"
Raylin studied the slaughter divine essence in his hand, thin as a hair. The moment his consciousness brushed against it, he seemed to hear countless cries of killing, making his eyes flush slightly red.
"This single strand of slaughter divine essence contains roughly ten percent of the Slaughter domain's rules, along with a massive amount of divine power, and the original faith of Mara's followers…"
Raylin analyzed it calmly. Divine essence was extremely important even to gods — even true gods would fall into a period of vital depletion after splitting off divine essence. Mara, with most of her incarnation destroyed by Raylin, was certainly in even worse condition now.
"To tread into the domain of gods through the power of slaughter? I like that!"
Raylin smiled faintly, and that single strand of slaughter divine essence plunged downward, merging with his entire being into one. The process was effortlessly smooth, because this was divine essence that had already been tamed by him.
Fragments of comprehension and insight regarding the rules of slaughter immediately surfaced in Raylin's mind, and within his body, a violent reaction akin to a qualitative transformation was already underway.
[**Ding! Host has begun absorbing divine essence! Chip upgrading…**] The Chip's mechanical voice rang out, followed by complete silence.
After an indeterminate amount of time, the Chip's voice finally sounded again: [**Ding! Subsidiary systems upgrade complete! Detecting intense fluctuations in host data, re-scanning…**] Immediately after, numerous notification windows popped up in rapid succession.
[**Ding! Host has successfully absorbed the divine essence of Slaughter! Life form altered! Ascended to Divine-essence Being!**] [**Ding! Host has absorbed divine essence! All attributes +1!**] [**Ding! Host's spirit has broken through!
[Ding! Host has acquired the Divine-essence Being talent: Extraordinary Adaptation!]
[Extraordinary Adaptation: Divine-essence Beings possess tremendous endurance for all manner of extreme environments. All Divine-essence Beings can survive in lava, suffocation, starvation, and frost! (Note: This talent partially overlaps with Intermediate Perfect Body and has been overwritten!)]
At this moment, Lei Lin discovered that his attribute panel had refreshed once again: [Lei Lin? Faolan Race: Human (Divine-essence Being) Arcanist Level: Twenty-two (Legendary) Strength: 16 Agility: 16 Constitution: 16 Spirit: 22 Arcane Energy: 220 Status: Healthy Talents: Legendary Toughness, Encyclopedic Knowledge, Intermediate Perfect Body, Dream Vision, Extraordinary Adaptation Feats: Legendary Primordial Energy Sense, Arcane Amplification, Illusion Mastery] [Weave Analysis Progress: Zero-level Weave 100%! First-level Weave 100%! Second-level Weave 100%! Third-level Weave 100%! Fourth-level Weave 100%! Fifth-level Weave 100%! Sixth-level Weave 100%! Seventh-level Weave 100%! Eighth-level Weave 87.56%! Ninth-level Weave 57.72%!]
[Spell Slots: Ninth-level slots (4), Eighth-level slots (6), Seventh-level slots (???), Sixth-level slots (???), Fifth-level slots (???), Fourth-level slots (???), Third-level slots (???), Second-level slots (???), First-level slots (???), Zero-level slots (???)]
"Divine-essence Being? A change in life form?"
Lei Lin looked at his hands. Faint golden veins shimmered across the surface before quickly fading away.
"And the Weave analysis progress has increased too — seventh-level Weave at 100%? Does that mean the minimum casting requirements for that twelfth-level legendary arcane spell — Karsus's Avatar — have now been met?"
Lei Lin thought of the powerful template the Twisted Shadow had given him — a spell capable of stealing the power of every Weave Goddess in an instant, bringing about their demise and releasing the wills of all the ancient Wizards. A terrifying piece of arcana.
"If this had been before, the Twisted Shadow would have jumped out long ago, using every trick to twist my senses, force me into becoming a mortal enemy of the Weave Goddess, and then finally strike without hesitation, wouldn't it?"
A cold smile appeared at the corner of Lei Lin's lips.
He was no longer a chess piece that could be manipulated at will. Even though there had been hostility between him and the Weave Goddess's church, it hadn't yet reached the point of irreconcilable enmity — so naturally, he had no intention of making a move right away.