Chapter 193: Don

The petrified layer on its body continuously cracked away, revealing a small, delicate, fair-skinned Holy Angel. The moment its mouth could move, it let out a furious roar: "#%￥…#@￥*"

The outburst left everyone stunned. Lu Se thought he'd misheard, and turned to Lisa beside him: "Grandma, did it just greet someone? Greet the Gods of Light?"

Lisa no longer cared about the formality of address; she spoke in disbelief: "Y-yes… it seems so."

If a bull-headed aunt at the market had said that, it would've felt perfectly normal—but a six-winged Archangel roaring such vulgar words was utterly shocking.

Everyone was frozen by the roar, staring blankly as the petrified layer peeled away.

The six-winged Archangel kept its weapon-carrying posture and continued shouting: "Die, you evil gods! Is life so disposable in your eyes?!"

But immediately, it sensed something was wrong. It looked down: "Huh? Where's my cannon?"

It glanced at its hands, then shook its wristbands. The two plain-looking bands clicked and shifted, rapidly reconfiguring into a crossbow-shaped weapon—but the bow frame was a cylindrical tube: the Petrification Bow.

At the same time, it spread its wings—a pair of black feathers—and four streams of black holy flame erupted from the wing roots, forming four black radiant wings.

The black holy flame surged into the Petrification Bow, and the weapon's energy surged rapidly.

But when it raised its head, it froze. It released the Petrification Bow and raised its hands meekly, because twelve Guardian Gods had surrounded it, ready to tear it to shreds at any moment.

"I… did I teleport here? I didn't mean to!" The six-winged Archangel raised its hands, hunched its head, and spoke timidly.

Negrilis poked his head out from afar and called loudly: "Hello, you're Luna, right? Do you remember what happened?"

Like the God of Balance, it seemed half-asleep. At Negrilis's question, it blinked slowly: "Let me think… I fired a Petrification Beam at the God of Balance. Where's Balance? Where is this? Twelve Guardian Gods—this is the Afterlife Empire's World Transit Station!?"

"Why did you fire at the God of Balance?" Negrilis asked.

"He betrayed the Light!" Luna said without hesitation. "They betrayed the Light—and they killed my pet."

Xiamala trembled, her face flushed with excitement—a thrill of finding a kindred soul.

Negrilis blinked. Why emphasize the pet? Why did it get more agitated talking about a pet?

"Balance is behind you," Negrilis said.

Luna turned around and saw the God of Balance, his face only visible from within the Coffin of the Undead.

"Evil god, it's your turn now." Luna clenched her tiny fist, itching to punch him—but she restrained herself.

Turning her attention from Balance, Luna's gaze settled on Negrilis. She frowned as if recognizing something, then asked tentatively: "God of Knowledge?"

Now it was Negrilis's turn to be stunned: "You know me?"

"Of course I know you. I know every god with a name." It frowned, puzzled: "Why have you gotten so thin?"

"... s this thin?"

"Not just thin—you've changed your life form entirely. You've become a Death Dragon. I last heard you were captured by Bone-Lock. So you were killed, and your soul was stuffed into this juvenile dragon's body?" Luna asked.

"They didn't kill me. They just imprisoned me," Negrilis said.

"Ah, so they like keeping pets too?" Luna asked curiously.

Negrilis choked back a mouthful of blood—had it really been reduced to a pet?

"What's the situation now? Is this the World Transit Station? Why are the Twelve Guardian Gods so worn out? Has it been many years? How long?"

"A thousand years," Negrilis replied.

"A thousand years? So long? Balance wasn't rescued on the spot—did the gods have an accident? What happened?"

As she spoke, Luna glanced around, and soon spotted the inverted Heavenly Kingdom in the sky.

Though its vertical drop point was the Demon Valley, the Holy Kingdom was so vast it resembled a satellite—visible across nearly the entire Abyss.

"The Heavenly Kingdom descended? What's going on? Why did it stop? Why is it stuck?" Luna asked.

"Yes, it's stuck," Negrilis replied honestly. A suspicion about Luna began forming in its mind.

"If it's stuck, it can retreat—but it didn't retreat. The Heavenly Kingdom is out of control. Ha! Taking the Control Key really worked!"

It's the key to controlling the Holy Kingdom; without it, the Kingdom runs on its preset course and gets stuck without ever exiting… No, a thousand years have passed—if I had just stolen the Control Key, it might have gotten stuck, but after a thousand years, surely someone must have solved the problem with the Control Key? Unless all the Gods of Light are dead.

"The key that controls the Holy Kingdom. Without it, the Kingdom runs on preset rules—even if stuck, it won't retreat… Wait, a thousand years have passed. If I'd taken the Control Key just now, it might still be stuck—but a thousand years? Hasn't anyone fixed the Control Key issue? Unless all the Gods of Light are dead."

Luna murmured to herself, then reached a conclusion she herself found unbelievable. She turned her gaze to Negrilis for confirmation.

"I don't know if they're dead, but all the Gods of Light have vanished—only the God of Balance remains. I intended to interrogate him about their whereabouts, but now, hearing you say this, I feel something's wrong. When you were petrified, were the Gods of Light still alive?"

Not only Luna, but the God of Balance inside the Coffin of the Undead also showed shock.

Seeing their expressions, Negrilis knew it was over—the hope of learning the fate of the Gods of Light and the Undead Sovereign from them had vanished.

"So you invaded the Heavenly Kingdom and brought us out?" Luna guessed.

Negrilis nodded: "Now I know who you are. Supreme Spirit, Archangel of Wisdom—your name is Luna."

There were three Supreme Spirits: Archangel of Wisdom, Archangel of Fire, Archangel of Might. But concrete evidence proved at least one Supreme Spirit died at the hands of Bone-Lock—likely the Archangel of Fire, according to the Zihai clan's records.

The Archangel of Wisdom was the most intelligent among the Holy Angel war machines, the commander of battles. Who would've thought one had fallen—and betrayed the Gods of Light?

"A name is just a label," Luna didn't deny the guess. Her gaze fell on Xiamala. "You—why are you like me?"

Xiamala said: "The gods betrayed me. They betrayed the Light."

Luna looked surprised: "I didn't expect a mortal to see through this. You're impressive."

As Luna spoke, its back wings retracted into a glowing orb.

It tossed the orb toward Xiamala: "Take it. The gods call this power 'Fallen Power.' Don't believe them. Power has no noble or fallen distinction. As long as we have the strength to define Holy Light, Light can be colorful."

Then it slid off its wristbands and threw them to the ground. It tore off its folded true wings and threw them down too. Then it punched its chest, pulled out a palm-sized disc, and tossed it down as well.

Negrilis was stunned: "What are you doing?"

"I don't have much time left. I give you these. If you can, destroy the Gods of Light. Don't let them steal Light anymore," Luna said.

"Don't have much time?" Negrilis looked closely—sure enough, Luna's body was turning gray, faintly, barely noticeable unless you paid attention.

"Uh… what's going on?"

"I'm injured. My Holy Heart was shattered. I can't last long. I didn't expect the Petrification Beam would seal me until a thousand years later. I'm giving you these—no point wasting them."

"Then why not give them to her?" Negrilis pointed at Xiamala. "You two share traits."

Luna shook its head: "She can't bear my power. She can't protect these things."

As Luna spoke, its body grayed faster, visible ash now drifting off.

Negrilis hurriedly asked: "Why did you say 'don't let them steal Light again'?"

"Light should be warm and inspiring. The Light these evil gods define isn't like that. My understanding of Light was completely different from what they made me do. One day, I woke up—and they called me fallen. Ha! No, they are the ones who fell. We can't let them arbitrarily define Light—or the whole world will sink into darkness…"

As she spoke, the grayization accelerated. Some areas now revealed bone.

"The world won't sink into darkness. A thousand years passed—the Gods of Light vanished. They probably did something terrible and got crushed by the Sovereign," Negrilis said.

"Ha! Then that's best. Looking back now, the Undead Sovereign is the one best suited to define Light. He… gave everyone hope…" With those words, Luna's flesh and hair vanished into thin air, leaving only a pure white skeleton. With a crack, it scattered into pieces on the ground.

Gave everyone hope? What does that mean? Hey, don't leave half a sentence!

"Petrification Bow? A weapon that can petrify gods?" Negrilis picked up the wristbands, examined them, then tossed them to Ang.

Ang slipped them onto his bone hands—perfect fit. Though his hands were just bones, Luna was only about 1. meters tall, so her wrists were roughly the same thickness as his. Besides, the device had self-adapting properties—once he infused a bit of Holy Light, it clung tightly to his bones.

He kept pouring in Holy Light. The wristbands clicked and reshaped into the cylindrical crossbow form. But when Ang pulled back the bowstring, he realized: there was no arrow.

"No arrow," Ang pointed at the Petrification Bow.

Negrilis leaned in to inspect it: "The Petrification Bow doesn't need arrows. Look—there are several gems. Pour in Holy Light, and they'll glow. When all gems are lit, you can fire."

"Oh." Ang bent his head and poured in Holy Light.

"Aoo!" The little angel whined, pointing at the fallen Archangel wings on the ground.

"Aoo!" Ang shook his head.

The little angel already had a pair of true wings—found in the Zihai realm—similar in size to these, likely the wings of the Archangel of Fire.

"Aoo!"

"Aoo!" (No.)

"Aoo~" Dejected.

Finally, Negrilis picked up the palm-sized disc: "Is this the Control Key of the Holy Kingdom?"

Lisa and Lu Se crowded around curiously: "With this Control Key, can we control the Heavenly Kingdom?"

"Probably not that simple. This is likely just a key to open the control room—like the key to our Transit Station's control room."

"Does our control room even have a key?"

"Uh… doesn't the Master's hand count as a key?"

"What's the point of all this talk? Just try it! There's no one inside the Holy Kingdom—go test it."

Negrilis's heart surged. If this group could control the Holy Kingdom—even without moving it—just drawing in faithful believers, who'd emerge to find a skeleton waiting to guide them…

Kaba Da, their expressions would be priceless.

No, no—just imagining it thrilled it. That mischievous streak inside Negrilis flared up again, impossible to suppress.

But quickly, it remembered a practical problem: "We don't have Void Stones. We can't get up there."

We can use the Heavenly Kingdom's Staircase to return—but how do we get up? Without Void Stones, no one can carry the Wind of Rest to the Heavenly Kingdom.

"Where can we find Void Stones?"

"They're probably formed in places with especially rich elemental air. We can ask the Mercenary Guild or put up a reward."

With all other issues settled, only one problem remained.

"How do we deal with him?" The group gathered around the God of Balance.

Ang wasn't interested. He was busy adjusting the Petrification Bow, pouring in three hundred Holy Light streams. Finally, the first gem glowed—four more remained.

No wonder it could petrify the God of Balance. By Holy Light as a standard, its energy strength was at least thirty times greater than Holy Light Flash.

"Ask him about the Sovereign's whereabouts. If he doesn't know, cut him down," someone suggested.

Negrilis leaned toward the hole in the Coffin of the Undead: "Do you know where the Undead Sovereign went? Where did the Gods of Light go?"

The God of Balance replied calmly: "I don't know."

"Don't know? If you don't even know that, you're useless. You'll be cut down," Negrilis threatened.

The God of Libra sneered: "Do you really think a coffin without the Immortal King's Immortal Casket can contain a Light Primordial God?"

"What do you mean?" Nagelis instantly went on alert.

Ang suddenly dropped the Petrification Bow, yanked Nagelis aside, and his Rock Hand trembled as he punched the God of Libra in the face.