Chapter 991: Divine Nature, The Final Choice

Xia Duo had seen the statue of the Lord of Radiance in the Temple of the Savile Territory.

Although in the descriptions of most Netherese, the Lord of Radiance always appeared as a tall, thin figure with a full head of silver hair, a short and sparse silver-white beard, and skin radiating a soft golden light.

Of course, he had also heard Bishop Anbulier mention that the other party could occasionally perceive a portion of the divine countenance during the process of prayer.

The image of the Lord of Radiance circulating in the outside world might have been compiled from the different perceptions of various Priests.

But inside the Temple, the statue of the Lord of Radiance was blurred, without a specific face, and that statue likewise possessed the characteristic of a majesty that could not be looked upon directly.

It was only slightly weaker compared to what he had just experienced from the Princess, though the statue was merely a projection of a portion of the Lord of Radiance's essence, while the Princess was the true body.

There was not much comparability between the two, but this similar nature could not help but make Xia Duo's imagination run wild; combined with his previous guesses, it seemed to have confirmed that the Princess was in the midst of completing the feat of Ascension to Godhood.

This could not help but make Xia Duo think of some background information from that game he had played on Earth, which had some mysterious mapping to the current world—

Among them, Karsus, who became a Great Arcanist at the young age of twenty-something with a boundless future, but ultimately destroyed everything by courting death, left a particularly deep impression.

In the game's background, the Ascension Ritual spell he used at the time was as high as the 12th Circle, yet he ultimately failed, while in this real world of Magic, the current highest achievement of Netheril was no more than the 11th Circle.

And through some sporadic notes left by Saville within the Tower of Time, Xia Duo learned that Magic seemed to have reached its end once it hit the 10th Circle level, and even the understanding of the 11th Circle was merely that it was stronger than the 10th.

Then, was it possible for the Princess to make a breakthrough that was almost unprecedented and would never be seen again in the short hundred years since Saville disappeared?

It seemed unlikely.

Especially since, for famous figures with considerable legendary color like Kangjienio and Iolum, Xia Duo had a bit of prior knowledge from that game background on Earth; he knew of their existence and also knew some of their deeds.

Some of these had already been verified, some were impossible to verify, and some had not yet appeared.

But the Princess was not among them; in that game background, the line of the Nether King seemed to have had no news since the second generation, let alone being passed down to the Princess's generation hundreds of years later.

Xia Duo also knew that the game background on Earth and this real world of Magic could not correspond perfectly, but he still could not help but think—

If the Princess ultimately succeeded in her Ascension to Godhood, why was there no reflection of it at all in the game background?

Was it a failure? Or did the so-called Mist of History cover everything up?

Even though the Princess had already displayed some Divine Nature at this moment, Xia Duo still could not muster much confidence; of course, in all fairness, he still hoped the Princess could succeed.

If the Princess succeeded in her Ascension to Godhood, if nothing else, at least Niya's status would be veiled in a layer of sacred color, and as Niya's husband, he could also share in quite a few benefits from it.

At the very least, this also meant that the path of the Mage had moved a large step forward; if the Princess could succeed today, he might not necessarily lack the opportunity to replicate such a success in the future.

And if the Princess failed in her Ascension to Godhood, first of all, the extra benefits would definitely be gone, and secondly, the greatest backer would have fallen; who knew what kind of situation would arise afterward!

From a purely utilitarian perspective, Xia Duo did not want the Princess to fail either.

Taking one last glance at the Princess, whose figure was almost invisible, Xia Duo silently sent his blessings in his heart, "I hope everything goes smoothly!"

At this moment, he also noticed that the other six Great Arcanists of the Seven Towers were no longer on the platform.

Of course, at this moment, the Princess's majesty was in full bloom, and the direction where she was located had become an absolute blind spot in the vision of the countless people in the plaza; it was estimated that not many people would pay attention to the movements of the other Great Arcanists.

It was just that on the viewing stand to the west, directly opposite Xia Duo, Kangjienio and Iolum were still present, though at this moment the Magic Net was turbulent, and it was difficult for him to tell if those were their true bodies.

Let's just assume they were; after all, the Ambassador of Keman was still there, his neck stiffened in fear as he insisted on looking directly at the direction where the Princess was.

If not for the Suppression of those two, it would not be strange for that Elf to do anything.

Just as countless people were craning their necks in anticipation of the final result, as the absolute leader of the Ascension Ritual, Xiya was currently facing an incomparably difficult choice.

When the Force guided by Faith converged with the Order Force, they did not collide to produce the "Holy Fire" described in the data provided by the Elves.

At this moment, she had several choices—

One was to give up right here; in any case, she had experienced the Force and the Order Force, and by continuing to research in this area in the future, it was not impossible to find a more universal path forward;

Another was to continue waiting, waiting for that sliver of opportunity for the Holy Fire to be born;

Or, to completely cast aside the ritual details provided by the Elves and complete the final Ascension Ritual according to her own understanding.

These three choices had risks that increased in turn; almost the moment such a thought occurred, Xiya abandoned the first choice—if she were to choose this, she would never have conducted the so-called Ascension Ritual at all.

As for the second, she believed that the Ascension Ritual provided by the Elves must have its reasonableness, and there must be a chance for success.

After all, whether it was the Faro Organization or Keman, they had both paid a huge price for this; could it be that it was just to witness her failure?

She would rather use her own failure to trade for the various concessions Keman had made previously, allowing Netheril to develop and grow more smoothly.

But clearly, the costs on both sides were not equal; the loss of one Great Arcanist did not count for much, even if it was the last member of the Nether Family, from which Netheril derived its name.

Various signs indicated that what the Elves were plotting was not before the Ascension, but after it; this meant that she could continue to use the ritual details provided by the Elves and ultimately succeed in her Ascension to Godhood.

But was such a result really what she wanted?

Xiya could not stop examining her own heart; the original intention for choosing to participate in this plan was very simple: she wanted to bypass the death curse in her family's bloodline through this method, and she also wanted to peek into the mysteries of the divine, opening a new path after becoming a Great Arcanist.

But if she were to be led by the nose by the Elves again and again, then what meaning would all that she had done have?

Although she had improved parts of the ritual content before, she still had not broken away from the route planned by the Elves; she had merely advanced the progress a little, and perhaps this was the real reason why the Elves had not raised any objections until now.

But at this final moment before the ritual ended, although Xiya had not truly ascended to become a divine existence, she did possess a portion of Divine Nature, which made her have a quite keen alertness regarding the future related to herself.

This was not just her own hesitation at this final moment through the rationality of a Spellcaster, but rather the warning of a Divine Nature that had already transcended the mundane.

Once this thought emerged, Xiya immediately made a decision.

"If I fail, let it be considered as gaining some experience for others!"