At this point, the "World Tree Offensive and Defensive Battle" between the Ten Ages of Gods and the Ten Celestial Realms had fully erupted, and the war had entered a white-hot stage.
At the same time, high above the sky, the Great Hollow that had once opened wide to welcome the descent of Heaven was gradually closing. A powerful sense of restraint left the angels mired as if in a swamp, and their unseen connection to the Lord was abruptly severed.
Because of this, the blazing white flames around those radiant humanoid forms suddenly dimmed, and their reactions, speed, and strength were severely weakened.
Caught off guard, all manner of strange angels, wheels covered in eyes, three-headed monsters with bird wings, giant infants wielding great axes, bird-beaked humanoid shadows of light, and more, were torn apart under the concentrated fire of gods and humans, breaking down into pure spirit particles and scattering away.
Not even the Gates of Heaven could recover and reshape their spiritual bodies and Star Core fragments.
For a time, the angelic army's numbers plummeted.
"Nega-Genesis!"
"Summon the Mirror of the Underworld!"
"The gears of the world have broken. Now is the time for purging. Now is the time for the Cataclysm. Destruction and creation are two sides of the same coin. All things change, and death turns into life. Yet the human world has no need for evil. My returning sword shall sever that evil. Return Sword of Judgment and Annihilation!"
"Spear of Victory!"
"I am the thunder that tears the stars apart!"
"Demon, who blocks all of heaven and earth!"
"Gungnir!"
"Flame, burn even the gods!"
"Mandated by Heaven, may it endure forever. For a thousand autumns and ten thousand generations, the imperial throne shall last for eternity!"
"Gáe Bolg!"
Seizing this chance, the kings of the Ten Ages of Gods immediately led their armies and sounded the charge. They tore through enemy formations, shattered one Gate of Heaven after another, and threw the magnificent yet illusory Celestial Realms into chaos.
The branches of the Tree of Kabbalah cracked one after another, breaking loose from the trunk. The shaking Celestial Realms were left battered and broken.
...
On Avalon Island, Samael gathered his thoughts and stared intently at the miniature Earth model between his fingers. Seeing victory songs rise and the number of angels sharply decrease, he let out a long breath. His suspended heart eased slightly, and his clenched fist slowly loosened.
"Lord, You are my rock, my high tower, my salvation. Arise and scatter the enemies! Let the unjust remain unjust, and let the filthy remain filthy. Behold, the Lord shall come swiftly and repay each according to their deeds!"
But just as Samael prepared to continue watching the overall situation and wait for the right moment, the angels that had retreated and contracted into the broken Heaven began blinking their chaotic eyes like nervous spasms. Thousands of shadows of light burned violently, shining like torches, as they sang hymns of praise and called out to their Savior.
BOOM!
At the same time, upon that vast sea of nothingness, violent turbulence erupted. The Tower at the End that pierced heaven and earth suddenly collapsed under an incomparable roar, and the blazing white Divine Spirit became the only light illuminating that chaotic world.
Marduk had awakened!
Damn it! It hasn't even been three days. He woke up early!
Looking at the blazing white giant shadow that almost filled the entire display, Samael's pupils shrank sharply. His face turned grim, and he abruptly rose to his feet. With one step, his peerless, fierce aura swept forward.
Hiss!
At once, the lake center veiled in a thousand layers of mist was split apart as if pierced from above by a suspended sword.
Hum!
In that instant, heaven and earth resonated. A huge vortex churned into being at the center of the lake, dense and intricate light patterns flared, and a dark-blue pillar of light shot into the sky.
"Aurora!"
Samael shouted coldly, his vertical pupils staring into the light.
Immediately after, a fairy with butterfly-like colorful wings, a golden laurel crown, and a graceful figure emerged from the pillar of light.
To satisfy her goal of becoming "the most beloved fairy," Aurora habitually maintained her persona as "the most beautiful, gentle, and kind clan leader." So the moment she appeared, she tried hard to show a flower-like smile, hoping to seem warm and approachable.
However, her swollen eye bags and heavy dark circles gave her face an almost ghostly air. The goddess-like figure now looked like a worker who had served in some sunless, hellish factory, tormented on a soul-draining assembly line, forced through shift after shift until every last drop of energy had been wrung out of her.
At the same moment their eyes met, that strained, sweet smile froze beneath the cold gaze of those serpentine vertical pupils.
The hairs on the back of Aurora's neck stood up, and she felt like a frog being stared down by a venomous snake.
Every inch of her skin and every nerve was frozen by an invisible chill and fear. Her entire body seemed carved from clay and wood, unable even to move her eyes.
"Where is it?"
The Ancient Serpent questioned her coldly, his eyes filled with indescribable irritation and icy violence.
As the clan leader of the Wind Clan, one of the Six Great Fairy Clans, and a species second only to True Gods, Aurora felt like a butterfly whose wings had been pinched between a giant's fingers, her life or death depending entirely on the mood of the one before her.
"It... it isn't... finished yet..."
As the suffocating pressure eased slightly, the pale-faced woman, limbs weak, instinctively shrank her neck and answered hoarsely. Then, the instant those snake pupils sharpened, she hurriedly tried to explain.
"We did our best! We really did! We haven't stopped for a moment! But there's too little time. There's simply no way to finish it right now!"
Aurora's face lost all color, and her voice even carried a hint of tears. She looked exactly like a miserable worker being bullied by a factory foreman.
"How much longer?"
Samael remained unmoved, his voice dark and cold.
"One day! Please give us one more day, and by then we'll definitely be able to..."
Like a drowning ant, Aurora desperately clung to that lifeline and hurriedly made her earnest promise.
"Half a day!"
Samael immediately cut off the Fairy Queen's plea, coldly throwing out the final deadline before adding in a sinister voice.
"As agreed, I gave you a full three days. If that thing isn't made before sunset, then you can take the rest up with Velber."
Aurora gritted her teeth and nodded, not daring to object in the slightest.
She was not stupid. The gentle Beast God Cernunnos would not mind their offense or broken promise, but this monster really would kill them. And in the cruelest way possible.
It had to be said that fairies were creatures who treated people differently depending on who stood before them. For those with terrible personalities and certain records of blasphemy, only authority and coldness could make them obedient.
"What about Gaia?"
Just as Aurora, having received her order, prepared to descend through the pillar of light and continue leading the Six Great Fairy Clans through their miserable rush work, Samael frowned and asked coldly.
"Her Highness the Star Spirit is still asleep..."
Aurora hurriedly shook her head, a trace of worry filling her amber eyes.
Beneath the dark-blue pillar of light, one could faintly see countless points of light converging, like radiant rivers surging through the Inner Sea of the Planet and connecting to the roots of the World Tree. Vast Ether was nourishing the divine tree that supported heaven and earth.
Not only that, but within the Inner Sea of the Planet, a glowing embryo like a root nodule was wrapped in the World Tree's veins. Gaia was curled up inside it, like an infant sleeping in the planet's embrace.
"However, we have already tested it. Under the authority granted to you, the power of the Greater Source can be guided into that thing!"
Aurora's added explanation finally made Samael's gloomy expression ease slightly.
Only half a day. Perhaps... they could hold on!
But just as that thought arose, billions of light bands drawn from the surface of the sea of nothingness gathered into a dazzling ring-shaped crown, forming a new sun within the chaos!