The villainous young master just wants to live a Buddhist-like life.

　For example, Athena, the goddess of war and wisdom, has been staring at a certain place ever since she awoke, never looking away for a moment.

　"Court Archmage" Cortoinby and "Sage of the Owl" Frank Howells were not even noticed by the "God of Wisdom," let alone caught his eye.

　For example, Artemis, the "goddess of the hunt," always kept her eyes fixed on a certain spot in the audience, paying little attention to anything else.

　Poseidon, the "god of the sea," only bestowed the polka with great reluctance, probably because he was "concerned about saving face."

　After all, he needed to "show his divine presence in front of others," so he had to make his presence felt and let the people of the ocean feel the protection of his robe.

　In conclusion, the awards ceremony has now ended. The beams of light surrounding the contestants have disappeared one after another.

　The twelve divine light pillars surrounding the venue also gradually faded.

　After their "manifestation before the people," the twelve Porobosians showed signs of withdrawing from the scene.

　Leaders and representatives from various countries did not utter a single word during this period.

　During this time, they frantically tried to organize their thoughts, but no matter how they tried, they couldn't open their mouths. They could only watch helplessly as the gods descended and then departed, and the divine lake and the shadow of the heavenly court in the sky faded away.

　Principal Arte stood before the sixteen contestants, watching the twelve gods depart, her smile remaining serene throughout.

　At a certain moment, just as the projections of the twelve gods were about to disappear completely, their voices rang in everyone's ears.

　"Three years later, in the Heavenly Court, in the Kingdom of the Demon God, all the gods will drink together."

Chapter 1641 Using Gods as Spectators and Humans as Pawns (4k)

　The first World Cup Duel Challenge has come to a successful conclusion. But the real challenge has only just begun.

　The voices of the twelve gods resounded throughout the world, reaching the ears of all intelligent life.

　The key to magic has been unlocked, and awakened beings will emerge one after another. The world has truly entered the Age of Magic!

　Meanwhile, in the Alliance Duel Arena.

　After the excited audience dispersed in an orderly manner, high-ranking officials from various countries gathered together, each with an unusually serious expression.

　The twelve gods disappeared and never reappeared, making it impossible for them to fathom their divine will.

　King Austin summoned Quintina for questioning, only to learn that the fragments of Zeus's divine consciousness had returned to him, and that Zeus's divine consciousness no longer resided within Quintina's body.

　Similarly, one-third of the "God of War" soul within Audrey Joan of Arc has quietly returned.

　However, unlike Quintina, Audrey did not become the "chosen one" of Ares, the "God of War".

　The reasons for this are unclear, but in any case, it is not in the interest of the Holy Church.

　The Pope's expression clearly showed his distress.

　...

　In addition to national leaders, participants in this meeting also included some lower-level organizations and stakeholders.

　Dark sat among them as the representative of the Dimon family, surrounded by maids such as Laura.

　The professors, along with Pandora, Ergani, and others, joined the meeting as associates of St. Marian Academy.

　Aurora, Nix, and others belong to the Freedom City faction. This meeting wasn't exactly secret; it was based on discussions surrounding the "Divine Proclamation." The entire situation unfolded very differently from what the leaders of various countries had anticipated. They had originally believed that after the "Divine Summoning Ritual," they would have an opportunity to contact the gods, and had made various preparations for this.

　But the twelve gods disappeared immediately after their pronouncement, giving them no chance to flatter or worship them.

　However, the twelve gods did not completely cut off all the overt communication channels.

　As Zeus's "chosen one," Quintina at least possessed the means to communicate with Zeus.

　However, the relationship between the "Chosen One" and the "God Lord" is clearly hierarchical, and she certainly cannot disturb her "God Lord" without a reason before making a clear decision.

　Therefore, the current decision is to try to get to know the twelve gods beforehand and explore their thoughts, after a collective discussion.

　When faced with a superior being far superior to themselves, even the Lionheart King dared not speak loudly, each one more cautious than the last.

　Also.

　Sloan has left and returned to the Underworld.

　The Holy Church's operations in the Underworld have proceeded relatively smoothly, and they have essentially achieved their objectives. This suggests that Hades, the "Lord of the Underworld," can currently offer Sloan relatively little support.

　The so-called "underworld" is actually just a fusion and evolution of the "divine kingdoms" of many underworld gods, and it is not much different from the "heavenly court" of the twelve gods.

　Simply hiding within one's own "divine kingdom" is insufficient to significantly advance the resurrection process.

　The gods of the underworld, if they wish to hasten their resurrection, must also venture into the mortal realm.

　It can only be said that humans are extremely cautious when facing the gods, and the gods are also very careful and calculating when taking each step.

　Even Hades, the "Lord of the Underworld," is like this.

　Not to mention the twelve gods who are in the eye of the storm.

　The meeting was convened once again by Principal Cynthia Saint Arte.

　The group gathered together hoping to glean some information about the gods from her.

　After all, apart from the "Chosen Ones," she was practically the only public representative of the Twelve Gods.

　At the start of the meeting, Principal Arte stated frankly without any attempt to conceal anything: "The Twelve Celestials have returned to the 'Heavenly Court.' Through their public appearance at this 'Summoning Ceremony,' they have gathered some special power unknown to us, preparing to use it to restart the 'Heavenly Court' and transform it into the 'Magic God Kingdom.'"

　"Regarding the 'Kingdom of the Magic Gods'...did the twelve gods leave any other words before they departed?" King Austin asked calmly.

　Principal Arte shook her head slightly and said, "Hermes left only one sentence: Three years later, the Cup of God."

　"Three years from now, the God's Grail!"

　The attendees whispered among themselves and began to discuss the matter.

　Although the "divine pronouncement" of the twelve gods is quite clear, the phrase "the gods drink together" is ostensibly an invitation to the gods, which is slightly different from the "God's Cup".

　Now that Principal Arte has given his explicit affirmation, all sorts of ideas have come flooding in.

　And when it comes to "reading comprehension," Darko Dimon is also a professional.

　He casually flipped through the report Laura handed him and said, "The God's Cup was planned long ago, but the three-year period was set by the Twelve Celestials themselves. This timeframe certainly wasn't set arbitrarily; they need three years to prepare. However, our original plan for the God's Cup didn't require any preparation at all; it could be started immediately by simply restarting the Celestial Court. This indicates that the Twelve Celestials will make significant changes to the rules of the God's Cup."

　At this point, he raised his head, glanced around, and said, "Drinking with the gods may not be just empty talk."

　After several exchanges, Principal Arte stated, "The definition of the 'God's Grail' will not change; it remains a magical duel competition that only holders of 'God Cards' are eligible to participate in."

　“But the ‘gods’ who drink with the gods can’t possibly refer to the gods residing in the ‘God Card’,” said the Lionheart.

　The Orc Kingdom gained relatively little from this World Cup, and his mood wasn't particularly high.

　“It’s not impossible,” Pope Sith said calmly. “The ‘God Cards’ are merely temporary vessels for the souls of the gods. If the God's Cup were held in the ‘Heaven,’ they might very well appear in the audience.”

　King Austin agreed, saying, "Hermes is the god of athletics, so it's quite possible that he could eliminate the element of divine intervention in order to maintain the fairness of the games."

　Then his voice suddenly turned serious as he said, "So, it's unclear whether the God's Cup will be broadcast to the public this time, but it's most likely that ordinary humans won't be allowed to participate. We probably won't be able to get tickets."

　Pope Sith said, “Not getting a ticket isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Drinking with the gods is like inviting them to watch the game. Those in the heavenly audience will all be gods eager to be resurrected. If we mortals get involved, we might inadvertently be punished for our words.”

　King Austin said, "Using God as the audience and people as pawns, it's still the same old story."

　Throughout the mythological history since the birth of humankind, it seems that the same thing has been happening all along.

　With a sigh from the old king, everyone present fell silent.

　In fact.

　After announcing the end, the twelve gods Polopus left immediately, clearly demonstrating their "disregard" for these human leaders. No matter how prominent their status in human society, they were all just roadside figures in the eyes of the twelve gods.

　When needed, the gods will show their concern for humanity. When not needed, their true attitude will be revealed.

　Nowadays, the only group that can catch the eye of the Twelve Celestials is probably the "Archmage".

　If you remove the "human" label, he is simply a "magician".

　It is conceivable that as time goes by and the times develop, the status of "magic masters" will become higher and higher.

　The attitude of the gods influences the structure of society.

　The existence of "magicians" will gradually surpass all realms "below the gods".

　This is the true "Age of Magic"!

　It will become increasingly difficult for rulers to maintain their authority.

　Perhaps at some point, traditional nobles will completely disappear from the world stage, and they will be replaced by "magical nobles".

　The Pope and the King had clearly foreseen this, but they remained relatively calm.

　Only the strongest survive.

　The course of history is never subject to the will of any individual.

　Caught in the midst of a great era of change, the things they could do were actually quite limited.

　The meeting lasted for nearly an hour.

　Principal Arte suddenly closed her eyes, and after a half-minute pause, opened them and said, "Hermes has sent word that the Heavenly Court has opened, the gods have returned to their places, and twelve temples will be established above the Heavenly Court, where each god will select 'Chosen Ones' to guard the temples. Once the Heavenly Court is rebuilt, mages holding 'God Cards' can enter the Heavenly Court from the Mountain of the Gods... that is, the 'Magic Kingdom', and challenge the 'Chosen Ones' guarding the temples. Only mages who obtain at least half of the temple tokens will be qualified to participate in the 'God's Grail'."

　“The Twelve Temples, the Chosen Ones, Temple Tokens, half…” Dark frowned and said, “That means you need to obtain at least six Temple Tokens.”

　Principal Art nodded and said, "However, obtaining the certificate doesn't necessarily require defeating the 'Chosen One.' As long as you demonstrate sufficient strength in the challenge and gain the 'Chosen One's' approval, you can obtain the certificate."

　As soon as she finished speaking, discussion broke out.

　Ultimately, the so-called "recognition" is still based on "winning." The threshold of having to defeat six "chosen ones" to qualify for the main competition is ridiculously high at the moment.

　Based on the currently confirmed "Chosen Ones," it means that one must defeat six Quintinanos to qualify for the main tournament.

　In the context of the World Cup, that would be the top six. This is practically a disguised way of discouraging them from participating.

　But when you think about the "God's Cup" which aims to make you a god, it doesn't seem so outrageous.

　If you can't even make it into the top six of the "World Cup," then what right do you have to compete with others for a divine position?

　And that's a qualification for the main competition...

　The ticket to enter the "Heavenly Court," also known as the "Magic God Kingdom," is to possess a "God Card."

　In other words, the process of challenging the "Chosen One" can be regarded as a preliminary selection or a preliminary round.

　Just like this World Cup, not everyone's goal is to win the championship.

　Simply being able to challenge the "Chosen Ones" can bring immense benefits.

　"Wait, how long will it take to rebuild the Heavenly Court?" Dark asked suddenly. Principal Arte replied, "About a year."

　“One year,” Dark said. “That means the Twelve Celestials will select all the ‘Chosen Ones’ over the next year.” Furthermore, the challenge to qualify for the main tournament will begin a year later.

　This means that the actual time for the "God's Cup" to be held is one year later, not three years later.

　The announcement made by the twelve celestial beings was indeed an invitation to the "gods," not a notification of the time for the "God's Cup."

　The preparation time for the competition was suddenly reduced from three years to one year. However, the time to qualify for the main competition increased to two years.

　As long as there is no limit to the number of challenges, you can absolutely use the challenge of the Twelve Temples as a way to hone your skills.

　By repeatedly challenging oneself within a set timeframe, one becomes stronger. One year of preparation, two years of honing, and finally, after a total of three years, one triumphs in a single battle.

　"Then what about the [Chosen Ones]? How do the [Chosen Ones] qualify for the competition?" the Elf Queen asked somewhat lazily.

　After a brief silence, Principal Arte spoke, "The 'Chosen Ones' are not eligible to participate."

　As soon as these words were spoken, the discussion suddenly intensified.

　Unlike Darko, who was focused on the specific details of the "God's Cup," many people present were actually more concerned about the selection of the "Chosen Ones."

　In this era of divine resurgence, there is no faster or more direct way to achieve transcendence than becoming a "chosen one".

　Because becoming a "chosen one," especially a "chosen one" of a higher deity, means being destined to become a god. In the future, with the resurgence of the higher deities, one will be able to obtain a "subordinate god" position.

　Even if the position of "Zeus's Chosen" has been occupied, there are still eleven empty spots.

　This is much more reliable than the vague future of becoming a "God of Magic".

　but.

　Originally, becoming a "Chosen One" and competing for the title of "God of Magic" were not mutually exclusive. However, Principal Arte's words now directly negate the possibility of a "Chosen One" vying to become the first Magic God.

　If one could become the first Magic God, that would be the only chance to directly transcend ranks and ascend to the highest godhood.

　Anyone aspiring to the top would no longer consider the path of the "Chosen One." In other words...

　There are fewer competitors on the path to becoming a "Chosen One".

　Everything has two sides.