Cloud Thinking

"I've always done this," Helia said softly.

Although she always complained that accidents happened faster than planned and various emergencies often disrupted her plans, whenever it was late at night and everyone was asleep, she would ask herself: Did she maintain her free will at every important decision-making moment?

The answer is undoubtedly yes.

Even though she was sometimes unwilling, even though she was occasionally forced into a corner, every decision she made was made after careful consideration.

She always walks firmly on her own path - to live, live well, live freely and happily.

If obstacles on the road can be cleared, they will be cleared; if they cannot be cleared, detours will be taken, but the ultimate goal has never changed.

Looking at her serious expression, Ameishizik couldn't help laughing and reached out to pinch her cheek: "I really like you."

Helia rudely slapped his hand away: "Please respect yourself."

It feels really weird to be touched by someone who looks exactly like you.

"Since you're here, I might as well give you a gift." Ameshizik changed the subject and, as if by magic, produced a pure golden key out of thin air. "This is the key to my private treasury. Now it belongs to you."

This reminded her of when she first met Tang Yaoxing, who also gave her a "gift" - a pile of soulless bodies.

Too bad she destroyed it.

Now even the God of Wisdom is giving gifts. Is this a tradition of their lineage? Gifts are a must when meeting someone?

Although she was worried, Helia still showed joy on her face.

Who says there’s too much, baby?

She immediately put on a flattering expression, rubbing her hands unconsciously, but pretending to refuse: "How can I be so embarrassed..."

"Then I won't give it to you?" Ameshizik deliberately took back the key he handed over, with a mischievous glint in his eyes, obviously trying to tease her.

Helia's eyes widened instantly.

No? How could this not be a routine move?

Don’t you have to refuse red envelopes three times during the Chinese New Year before finally accepting them “reluctantly”?

Why is the treasure flying away just after she said something polite?

Seeing her face fall after being stunned for a moment, and her eyes full of grievance and accusation, Ameishizik gave up.

Just as he was about to reach out and rub her head again, he was quickly stopped by Watersiser.

"Please respect yourself." Watersiser repeated Helia's words, but his tone was obviously a little colder.

Seeing the God of War being so protective of his child, Ameshizik snorted lightly, his tone carrying a hint of provocation: "What? You can't even touch me?"

He shook the key in his hand, drawing an alluring arc before Helia's eyes: "Say a few nice words to me."

Helia immediately put on a flattering smile and clasped her hands together. "Great God of Wisdom, you are the embodiment of truth, the source of wisdom, and the beacon that illuminates the fog of the world. Your wisdom makes the stars pale in comparison, and your foresight makes time marvel. Before you, ten thousand tomes seem shallow, and millennia of wisdom become child's play. You are the all-knowing prophet, the interpreter of all things, and..."

She spoke flattering words for three minutes without repeating herself, and finally blinked her eyes and said, "Is this okay?"

Ameshizik:?

Watersiser:?

Both of them were speechless for a moment by Helia's sudden flattery - what a silver-tongued girl!

Ameshizik burst into a hearty laugh and solemnly placed the key in her palm: "Well, you should move on."

"Will we ever meet again?" Helia asked eagerly, still thinking mainly of more gifts.

"When the time is right, we will meet again." Ameshizik blinked, "Don't miss me too much~"

He waved his hand gently, and Helia felt the ground beneath her feet suddenly flow, and she retreated uncontrollably.

Ameshizik's figure became farther and farther away from the field of vision, and finally turned into starlight and disappeared.

This encounter came suddenly and left abruptly, like an unexpected dream, leaving one with an inexplicable sense of melancholy.

When the perspective shifted back to Osinotto, time seemed to have been fast-forwarded, with scenes flashing before his eyes like a kaleidoscope.

It would be more accurate to say that Osinotto was carried to the altar rather than choosing this path on his own initiative.

believer?

The Morogen religion had already prepared a large number of fanatical followers for him.

After the corpse show that shocked the empire, more and more people regarded them as the vanguard of resistance against tyranny, and joining the Morogen religion even became an honor.

power?

With pagans and Morrogans everywhere, and Kafmankis controlling the puppet emperor through the Senate, they can obtain almost any resources they want.

High-level magicians were hunted, rare magical beasts were captured, countless treasures were plundered, and even cooperation was reached with magical families to obtain multiple magic crystal veins and the remains of fallen gods.

As for authority... Helia didn't know how they did it, this part was skipped over, and she was so angry that she wanted to scream to the sky.

But no one cares about the true thoughts of Osinotto, the real protagonist of this grand ceremony.

On the surface, he is a favored child of heaven who is about to ascend to the throne of God, and may become the first person in history to become a god in a mortal body.

But in reality, he was just a carefully cultivated experimental subject.

The preparations flashed by like a fast-forwarded image. Before Helia could even consider whether she had accidentally activated the acceleration button, the scene had already jumped to the day of the ceremony.

Osinotto was unconscious, lying quietly in the center of an intricate magic circle drawn with blood.

The surroundings were filled with all kinds of strange offerings - crystal cores of high-level monsters, fragments of gods' remains, and magical gems that shone with faint light.

The believers sat cross-legged in three layers around the magic circle, and when the time came, they began to chant obscure spells in unison.

This strange tune made Helia's ears twitch - wasn't this the tune that the human faces on "He" kept singing when he was fighting with Osinotto?

It turned out to be from this ceremony.

As the chanting grew louder, the souls of the believers one after another peeled off from their bodies, transforming into translucent shadows floating in the air.

They still kept their eyes closed and continued their creepy chanting devoutly.

The magic circle suddenly lit up with a dark red light, completely covering Osinoto.

The offerings in the formation began to melt, turning into pools of indescribable flesh paste that seeped into the patterns of the formation.

Those blood lines squirmed like living things, slowly flowing towards Osinotto's body, like countless tiny bloodworms drilling into his skin.

Osinotto's body began to undergo horrifying changes—his skin surface constantly bulged and sank, as if countless living creatures were roaming and playing inside him. His limbs were the first to begin to twist and deform:

The five fingers of his right hand gradually lengthened, his nails became sharp like hooks, covered with gray-black hair, and eventually turned into a ferocious wolf's claw; the skin of his left arm turned a strange green, and dense bumps appeared on the surface, making it look as disgusting as a toad; the muscles of his right leg became knotted and swollen, and his feet transformed into hawk-like claws; his left leg softened and deformed, and the end split into tissue similar to octopus tentacles.

Several bulges appeared on his back, eventually piercing through the skin and stretching out three pairs of wings of different shapes - a pair of bat-like fleshy wings, a pair of butterfly wings covered with colorful scales, and a pair of pure white wings like an angel.

Even more terrifying was his head—half of his face was covered with snake scales, his eyes had vertical pupils; the other half had elk-like horns growing out of it, and his ears had become long and pointed.

His forked tongue kept coming out of his mouth and then quickly retracting, as if he was adapting to this new body.

It even grew fish gills that opened and closed with its breathing, exhaling warm white air.

During the entire transformation, Osinotto remained in a coma, but his facial muscles twitched from time to time, revealing extreme pain.

The light of the magic circle grew brighter and brighter, and finally turned into a blood-red beam of light that shot up into the sky, dyeing the night sky an ominous dark red.

"Did it work?" Helia narrowed her eyes, uncertain.

Osinoto, who was in the center of the magic circle, was completely obscured by the dazzling light and the diffuse blood mist. She subconsciously wanted to get closer, but was pulled back by Watersise.

Even if it is just a scene in memory, the pressure of the gods cannot be underestimated.

The swirling blood mist was formed when the bodies of those devout believers disintegrated at the moment of the divine power descended.

They didn't even have time to cheer and celebrate the Lord's coming, as they were instantly transformed into blood mist.

"No, how could it be like this?" Helia couldn't help but hold her forehead.

The most crucial second half was either sped up and skipped over, or was incomplete, as if deliberately preventing her from seeing it clearly.

What puzzled her even more was that Osinotto clearly wanted to die, so why did he compromise in the end?

Now that you wake up and find that you have become a god, you just accept your fate?

"These memories are already incomplete." Seeing her glaring in anger, Watersiser explained, "The more profound the memory, the easier it is to retain."

In other words, the experiences before becoming a god were deeply engraved in Osinoto's mind, but the agonizing years when he waited for godhood in the Morogen religion were selectively forgotten by his consciousness - this is the human body's instinctive protection mechanism.

Helia smacked her lips regretfully. "I didn't see the most crucial part. I feel like I came here for nothing."

She turned away, her expression complicated. "Actually, I don't want to know about his past. He's gone now. Even if I understand the reasons behind his evil deeds, what good does it do?"

"Even the most hateful person has his pitiful side. Reading his memories actually makes me feel bad."

She looked up at the sky and sighed, "Neither hate nor pity."

At that moment, she suddenly felt grateful to her father, thinking he was truly formidable. "Thankfully, my father was strong-willed. At least under his rule, the empire remained relatively stable, and the people were able to live and work in peace." But then her eyes sharpened again, "But it's far from enough. Those parasites are still exploiting the common people, and incompetent people are still in high positions, tyrannically abusing their power."

Her brows furrowed. “I won’t be able to sleep or eat unless I root out these scum.”

Watersiser gently touched the back of her hand: "Aren't you already doing these things?"

Helia stared down at her hands, her fingertips clenching and unclenching slightly, as if feeling some invisible weight.

"But I'm not sure if this is the right thing to do." Her voice was as soft as a sigh.

"Just like my father—when I first met him, I thought he was a cruel, heartless, and ruthless tyrant who even used his own flesh and blood as pawns." Her gaze pierced through the void, as if she saw that majestic figure. "He may not be a good father, but he is a competent emperor."

"His hands are stained with the blood of his loved ones. The world only considers him cruel and ruthless, but forgets that it was he who ended decades of political turmoil and suffering." Helia's lips curled into a wry smile. "He cares not for his notoriety, nor for the judgment of future generations. His eyes are solely on the future of the empire—and for this, he is willing to sacrifice everything."

"So, even if some things are right in my eyes, others may only see them as proof of my inherent nature as the 'evil princess.'" She clenched her fists, her nails digging deep into her palms. "Most people are short-sighted, and I'm no exception. Oftentimes, I only see the immediate gains and losses, because..."

Her voice dropped. "I'm too possessive. No one can touch what belongs to me. If you ask me to sacrifice the present for an uncertain future, I really can't do it."

But the next second, her eyes became sharp as a knife: "But now I know very well that to cut the grass, we must remove the roots. As long as we are ruthless enough to eradicate all hidden dangers, the road ahead will indeed be much smoother."

She helplessly spread out her hands, the crescent-shaped pinch marks on her palms clearly visible. "See, I'm such a contradiction. I'm so entangled in this and that, not only do I feel depressed, but even my pace has slowed down."

Watersiser is always the most patient listener.

He stared at Helia quietly, listening to her analyze her inner confusion, bewilderment, and helplessness, his eyes like the quiet deep sea.

"Do what you can, do what you want, do what you're willing to do." He gently cupped the back of her head with his broad palm and leaned down to meet her eye level. "Just be yourself."

"This is what I most want to see from you."

Helia nodded.

She understood the reason, but still couldn't control her chaotic thoughts.

People always tend to beautify the path they didn't take, and she was no exception. Many late nights, she tossed and turned, chewing over the decision she had made.

Seeing that the haze in her eyes had not yet dissipated, Watersise suddenly grasped her shoulders and said, "Do you want to experience what it's like to be a god?"

Helia tilted her head, her eyes gleaming with curiosity and confusion.

Watersiser put his arm around her shoulders and led her forward.

They passed through the thick blood mist and approached Osinoto in the center of the magic circle step by step.

He had just warned her not to get close, but now he was leading the way himself. This change made Helia very confused.

She glanced sideways and saw that Watersise's eyes, as blue as the deep sea, were emitting a faint golden light. A dark red halo enveloped his body, wrapping her in it.

It turned out that He was using His divine power to isolate her from the divine might in the memory fragments so that she could witness the birth of the God with her own eyes.

In the center of the magic circle, Osinotto returned to his original appearance, sleeping peacefully like Sleeping Beauty.

However, his body was wrapped with countless extremely fine golden threads, interwoven into an impenetrable net, and it was unclear whether it was for protection or confinement.

Watersiser took Helia's hand and guided her towards Osinotto.

When the dark red light that enveloped them touched the wandering golden threads, Helia felt a huge resistance, as if pushing away an invisible wall.

But Watersise's hands were firm and powerful, and he tore open the golden wire with unstoppable force.

He took Helia's hand and placed it firmly on Osinotto's chest.

bang——

Helia only felt a divine power as vast as the ocean rushing towards her, and that tremendous power poured down on her like a tsunami.

Her vision was instantly flooded by a golden torrent, and the whispers of ancient gods seemed to ring in her ears.

In the face of this power, she was as small as a small boat in a storm, yet miraculously she was not swallowed up - Watersise's divine power turned into an invisible barrier, allowing the surging divine power to flow past her like water.

The golden threads wrapped around Osinotto suddenly exploded, like thousands of golden poisonous snakes swooping down on her.

Those silk threads shining with divine light burst into dazzling sparks the moment they touched the dark red light shield. Her long hair fluttered wildly in the strong wind stirred by divine power, and her robes rustled as if they would be torn into pieces at any time.

Helia's eyes widened, reflecting the suffocating scene in her pupils.

Her body stiffened unconsciously, and every inch of her skin was trembling - it was the instinctive fear that came from the depths of her soul.

In the face of this power, she felt like an ant standing at the feet of a giant, and for the first time, she truly felt the true pressure of a god.

At this moment, she finally understood: If Osinotto had not fallen into an eternal sleep, if he had not bestowed power upon the four archbishops, if he had not suffered the torment of the frenzied will within his body, if he had not been betrayed by his believers and turned into a monster—

As a god in his prime, there was no way she could compete with him.

Moreover, at that time, Osinotto was fighting against her with his power still limited.

Tarod, the crazy magician, dared to fool the gods, sealed His original power in a crystal ball, and carefully designed it to fall into Helia's hands.

During his slumber, Euros continuously exploited his power. These two holders of similar authority were destined to clash. They devoured each other, attempting to achieve the fusion and sublimation of power.

But Osinotto would never understand until his death that everything Euros did was not for himself, but for Helia.

He may never understand until his death why the archbishop he respected most betrayed him.