Secret: The undead do not die in the fire

On a stone square floating in the void, black stone pillars support a magnificent and sacred church.

The only flaw is that every pillar, every arch, and every dome is inlaid with skulls of different races, most of which are pale and densely packed together, observing the surroundings with empty eyes. On the walls, windows, and doors of the church, transparent, distorted, and painful faces stand out, completely separating the interior from the outside world.

At the front of the church stands a cross hundreds of meters high.

In front of the cross, there are rows of black seats with backrests.

Adam, wearing a simple white robe, a light blond beard and a silver cross pendant, stood at the foot of the cross, facing the rows of seats, like a pastor ready to preach to the believers.

This is the Church of Bones, and also the kingdom of God of the Visionaries.

Ever since he obtained the extraordinary characteristics of the 'Eternal Blazing Sun', he has never left here. Everyone believes that he is taking the time to digest the uniqueness and extraordinary characteristics of the 'Sun' path.

But this does not mean that He has given up His influence on reality. On the contrary, He has been secretly observing the development of the times.

After the prayer, the space in front of Adam suddenly opened up like water light, and a picture appeared:
The picture is dark, deep and empty, with no end in sight.

That is not the starry sky, because even the dark sky will have stars twinkling.

There is the underground, filled with black viscous liquid, like a chaotic ocean.

Just like the starry sky that covers the world, the Chaos Sea is also everywhere. People can enter the Chaos Sea from anywhere in reality - as long as they dig deep enough, they will always dig up the black and sticky liquid.

Under normal circumstances, Adam would never dare to peer into the Chaos Sea so unscrupulously.

Because even if it is a true god, if he rashly peeks into the Chaos Sea, he will be contaminated by the Origin.

But it's different now.

Because in Adam's sight, the deep black 'ocean' was boiling.

Yes, boiling!
Although there was no light at all, the Chaos Sea was indeed boiling. Bubbles were surging on the "sea surface" one after another, and then burst, as if giving birth to a new life.

Adam knew that the reason why the Chaos Sea was boiling was because of the spread of the "First Fire Creation Theory". As this theory became more and more popular, the Chaos Sea also boiled, which was a precursor to destruction.

Once the "First Fire Creation Theory" completely replaces the Creator, the chaotic sea will be completely evaporated, and fire will be "bred" from it.

By then, the beginning will be completely a thing of the past.

As for Adam, He did not reject such an ending, but...

"Too fast." Adam murmured softly, looking up at the huge cross in front of him with clear eyes.

All the sufferings in reality come from the 'beginning', and all the luck also comes from the 'beginning'.

What He left behind was not only spirit, will, imprint, and pollution, but also essence, characteristics, and power.

His remaining power formed an invisible barrier outside the planet, preventing those Outer Gods from invading directly. However, as time went on, because the "First" had never been truly resurrected, his will and power were fading. At the end of the Fourth Epoch, this reached a very serious level, and the invisible barrier cracked. The Seven Gods had to move the kingdom of God to the astral plane to fill the gap.

Now, the God of War and the Eternal Sun have fallen one after another, and no one will fill the remaining cracks.

Therefore, Adam had to take action himself and fill the gap with his own kingdom of God. This was the price he had to pay for seizing the authority over the sun.

Of course, He could choose not to do this.

But in that case, the Outer Gods could use this crack to open the barrier of the world more quickly, and eventually enter reality to feast.

This was obviously unacceptable to Adam, who had his own plans. Because once the Outer Gods of the Old Times entered the scene, they could completely overturn all the plans of reality and take away everything they wanted with the most primitive and purest violence.

Therefore, before achieving His goal, He must eliminate the influence of foreign gods.

But accordingly.

The invisible barrier actually symbolizes the 'original' current state.

In the first three eras, the will of the 'first' was the strongest, and it was also the one He had the greatest hope of reviving.

However, in the First Age, God and the Celestial Lord fought against each other and both fell.

In the Third Age, the will of the Original had been weakened to a considerable extent, and that was almost his last chance. The Ancient Sun God at that time was the best choice for the Original to revive.

However, the 'Ancient Sun God' was unwilling to be controlled by 'Origin' and broke the deadlock by committing suicide.

Although the consequence of doing so was the fall of the 'Ancient Sun God' and the division of power due to betrayal, at least Adam and Zhenzao survived.

In comparison, 'Initial' is the one that has completely lost the chance of recovery.

Because in the Fourth and Fifth Epochs, the gods who already knew the truth about the world no longer tried to ascend to the Old Ones. They tacitly maintained each other's strength at the level of Sequence 0.

Because at the level of Sequence 0, as long as they do not actively approach the 'Origin' or the 'Sea of ​​Chaos', they can completely rely on faith to anchor their own humanity, thereby avoiding further contamination and erosion by the 'Origin'.

Once the barrier completely disappears and doomsday comes, it means that the 'original' will will completely fade away.

The true Gods are all aware of this, so they are all waiting for the appropriate time, which is the coming of the end of the world.

Of course, they will not really wait until the end of the world to take action, because by then the "original" will will have faded, but the threat from the foreign gods who are eyeing the world covetously is no less than that of the "original", and may even be much greater.

After all, the 'Origin' only had the risk of revival, but these Outer Gods were the real Old Ones!
Therefore, the true gods must find the balance point, and the period before the end of the world is the best balance point.

During this period, the Outer Gods coveted the world but had not yet arrived.

The will of the 'first' was only one step away from completely fading. That was why the true gods took action at the same time, attacking each other and competing for the ticket to the old days!

But - even if the 'original' will fades, it does not mean that they can sit back and relax.

Because the will of the 'original' will fades, but the spirit will exist forever and will not be erased unless the entire universe returns to one point. Therefore, the corresponding high-level existence still has the possibility of the 'original' awakening in its body. The higher the status, the greater this possibility, and the corresponding influence and erosion are more serious.

Even if the 'original' will is gone, it will only slightly weaken the influence and erosion, preventing it from being directly 'possessed'.

In other words, whether it is the true god or the old days, their purpose is actually the same, they are all waiting for the will of the "original" to fade away. As for the spirit of the "original", there is actually no need to worry so much.

Because as long as they don't stubbornly pursue the possession of all power for themselves, they can completely use the 'anchor point' to fight against the 'original' spirit, making it impossible for it to give birth to a new 'will', thus ensuring the continuation of their own will.

Therefore, Adam's goal has never been to become the true 'Creator', because He knows that is nonsense. What He pursues is just to restore his former strength and become the ancient sun god again.

Because the 'Old Days' are the limit of His resistance against the 'Original' spirit, and the strength of the Three Pillars is enough to make Him superior to most existences.

That's it.

He is never greedy.

However, the situation has changed slightly now.

Although some of the twenty-two paths came from the outer gods, they all came directly or indirectly from the "Origin". Only the "First Fire" was different, it was the real "invader"!
What Adam and the Outer Gods asked for was nothing more extraordinary characteristics and greater strength.

The attitude towards the 'initial' is simply confrontation and suppression.

But the 'First Fire' is different. What it seeks is the ultimate - to attribute the essence of everything in the world to the First Fire, and to completely eliminate the original spirit, so that no one in this world will know the 'Creator' anymore, and only know the 'First Fire'.

And the most important thing is that 'First Fire' really has this ability.

Just like the boiling 'Sea of ​​Chaos', it is actually the First Fire that is consuming the original 'will' and 'spirit'!
The original doomsday was supposed to be in 1368, which was when the barrier disappeared and the 'original' will completely faded.

Now it is 1351, and there are at least 17 years left for Adam, and He is confident that He can restore His former strength during this time, as long as the True Creation is willing to merge with Him.

But now, things have changed a little.

Because under the 'boiling' of the First Fire, the 'original' will will dissipate faster than before.

The original estimate was 17 years left, but now there are less than years left at most.

Furthermore, the 'boiling' process is continuous, and the 'original' will will continue to fade.

Judging from the current progress of the First Fire, the time left for Him is less than three years, or even shorter.

For the Outer Gods, this is undoubtedly a carnival.

Although more than a decade is just a blink of an eye in the old days, they would not mind starting their meal earlier.

But for Adam and other true gods, this is actually mixed news.

The worry is naturally that the outer gods will arrive sooner than expected.

The good news is that along with the 'original' will, the 'original' spirit is also being eroded, which will make their promotion easier.

For example, the Goddess of Night, who has obtained the uniqueness of the God of Death and the God of War, is certain to be promoted to the Old One. Three years is enough for her to digest it, and with the help of the embers, the 'River of Eternal Darkness' will not be an obstacle. She can completely be promoted to the Old One before the end of the world.

The same thing was true for Adam.

But the problem is that, unlike the 'Goddess of Night' who has already gathered all the conditions, Adam is only a dual-path true god now, and he still needs three paths. He must not only convince the 'True Creation' to voluntarily merge with him, but also snatch the food from the tiger's mouth and obtain the uniqueness of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom and the Lord of Storms.

And even if He really did all this, He would still need to consider the consequences—the consequences of a full-scale conflict.

The Fool, the Gate, the White Tower, the Night, the Death, the Twilight Giant, the Mother, the Moon, the Black Emperor.

Of the twenty-two paths, the Fool possesses nine complete paths, four true gods, and one Angel King1.

And Adam counted on his own side, there are also eight paths: Visionary, Sun, Error, Witch, Red Priest, Abyss, Hermit, and Perfect, four true gods, and two angel kings.

Although the Hanged Man is one and the same with Him, he may not necessarily stand on His side.

Although the tyrant stood on the opposite side of Him, he would also have some concerns about the night, and He probably naively wanted to remain neutral. Even if the other party joined the Fool's side, the Hanged Man would definitely take action, and the two would cancel each other out without consideration.

As for the Wheel of Fortune and the Bound One, these three paths are incomplete and cannot have an impact on the overall situation.

The only thing left is the Judge's Path.

The only way to get the Judge is in the Church of the God of War, and now it has probably fallen into Loen, and may eventually fall into Roselle's hands.

In other words, the apparent situation is still not in His favor.

But this may not be a bad thing.

Adam suddenly raised his head, as if he sensed something.

boom!
The next moment, the originally stable void suddenly burst into a turbulent flow, sweeping across the entire star realm like a huge wave.

At the same time, everyone in the star realm sensed a terrifyingly complex torrent of information, which washed over every corner of the star realm and every kingdom of God standing within it.

That is the 'Hidden Sage', and He is seeking promotion.

A faint light passed through the stained glass high up, illuminating the huge cross and Adam below.

A powerful will is implemented in the church.

He seemed to be asking Adam whether his original promise still stood.

Adam didn't answer, but just calmly looked away.

He didn't even move a single step, but he had already disappeared in the Church of Bones and appeared somewhere in the astral realm.

The vast information torrent completely enveloped an area, forming an indestructible line of defense to prevent the promoted 'Hidden Sage' from being affected by the outside world.

Outside that line of defense, dim lights swarmed in from all directions, quickly analyzing and disintegrating the line of defense built by the flood of information.

But the Hidden Sage who is about to become a god is no less powerful than the Lord of Steam. Although the decomposition of the Lord of Steam is fast, his torrent of information is endless!
Just when the two sides were at a stalemate, a shadow suddenly rushed into the defense line - the torrent of information should have blocked him out, but it 'mistakenly' mistook him for a part of the defense line, allowing him to pass through the defense line smoothly and appear in front of the promoted Hidden Sage.

He was a young man with slightly curly black hair, a broad forehead, thin cheeks, dark eyes, and wearing a monocle.

He is Amun.

Amon the Blasphemer!
Amon showed a brilliant smile to the Hidden Sage, and then he drilled directly into the Hidden Sage's body and merged with Him!
Generally speaking, angels at the Hermit level are very difficult to deal with.

Because they can transform themselves into pure information streams, most pathways are powerless against them.

But "Error" is different. What He is best at is finding loopholes and making these pure information regard Himself as a part of it.

Adam ignored everything in front of him.

He neither assisted the Lord of Steam nor helped the Hidden Sage to strengthen his defense.

A true god is powerful, but not powerful enough to bring sufficient benefits to His camp.

But His existence could make another true God, even an Old One.

A gigantic undead snake swam in the air, sneaked up to the hidden sage silently, and suddenly opened its bloody mouth.

Adam watched all this indifferently and said calmly:

"This is a necessary sacrifice."

He seemed to be talking to himself, or to someone invisible.
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