Divine Realm

"…Who's Liliana to you?"

In fact, William already had a rough answer before he asked this question.

However, he still wanted to hear the person in front of him say it personally.

The other party fell silent for a moment, and the expression on his face kept changing. Finally, he replied, "She's my daughter… Where did you learn this name?"

As expected…

William couldn't help but have the urge to laugh when he sensed the vigilance in the other party's words.

He said to the middle-aged man who called himself the Chief Palace Mage and claimed that the Three Moon Goddesses was an ancient belief of the Blackwater Swamp.

"Then, are you aware that your daughter was almost eaten by the spawn of the Three Moon Goddesses about a week ago? What were you doing back then? Worshiping the statue of the Lady of Starvation in this mine?"

"I was searching for her back then. I didn't know that she had encountered a newborn goddess's dependent." Vincent was silent for a moment before answering.

The newborn goddess was the Lady of Starvation in the Moon Realm worship of the ancient Blackwater Kingdom. Similarly, the Whispering Empress and the Lord of Nightmare were respectively called the Goddess of Transformation and the Goddess of Art.

"In that case, you know that the Lady of Starvation's spawn eats humans?"

William asked. He waited for a while and continued when Vincent didn't say anything.

"Then, you treated Them as your faith and worshiped a man-eating deity?"

Vincent shook his head at William's words.

"Strength is strength. How to use it is only related to the user's will. The same power can be used to kill or save people. My daughter is in danger because that magic chanter wanted to kill her, and that's not the will of the newborn goddess."

This familiar explanation again.

William had the urge to facepalm.

In-game, every time he questioned Moon Realm worshipers who could still communicate normally, they always gave the same answer. He didn't expect them to remain the same more than a thousand years later.

Their gods weren't in the wrong, but the believers who had chanted the wrong scriptures and abused Their powers.

William scoffed at this.

"There are many ways to obtain strength," he said.

"Be it tempering one's skills, practicing magic, or establishing a faction, these powers belong to yourself after obtaining them. No one can snatch them from your hands. However, the powers obtained from trading with the Moon Realm aren't like this."

As William spoke, he looked at the corpse of the Webweaver.

"No matter how powerful or convenient that power is, the power from the Moon Realm is something the Void Sovereigns lend out. Those things will never belong to you. Furthermore, one day, they'll make you spit them out with interest."

"You didn't come here to destroy the altar and take away the miners just to give me a lesson in faith, right?"

Vincent interrupted William's preaching and continued.

"You're the heretical mage who saved my daughter in the Grief Mountains, right? I asked her about your identity and whereabouts, but she refused to say anything. She only said that you're a wandering heretical mage and didn't want to cause too much trouble."

As he spoke, the corners of his mouth twitched as he looked at the ruined temple.

"She probably didn't expect you to cause such trouble here… However, no matter what your goal is, please accept my gratitude for saving my daughter."

As Vincent spoke, he bowed to him solemnly.

"If you're willing to leave here, I guarantee on my reputation that no one will fault you… Although that's what I would like to say, your choice of staying despite being able to use Teleportation means that you have something to discuss with us, right?"

William nodded.

"That's why I need to confirm if your status in this city is worth talking to," Vincent replied bluntly.

"Tell me what you want."

William looked at the picture of the dragon and snake devouring each other and replied, "Put what I want aside for now. Let me tell you what you want first."

William stared into Vincent's eyes and said, "You want the Blackwater Swamp to become independent from the Riel Empire."

Upon hearing the other party's words, Vincent said with a calm expression, "Only a lunatic would have such thoughts."

William shook his head and pointed at the rock wall.

"Do you know what this pattern on the rock wall represents?"

Vincent looked at the pattern on the rock wall that was gradually dimming and replied,

"The Bronze Age's primitive faith totem in the Blackwater Swamp, the Dragon God Oka who symbolizes royalty, and the Snake God Vera who symbolizes death. This painting of tail devouring shows that They are undergoing an eternal battle."

Vincent paused and continued, "However, these myths have been proven to be partly the truth of real myths since the creation model of the Seven Holy Spirits was proposed. No one will believe this now, so why are you asking me this?"

"Are you sure you want to continue your act in front of me?" William asked.

Vincent hesitated for a moment before finally speaking.

"The King and Rebel ritual allows the executor to obtain the power of legends by reproducing the mirror image of an ancient myth…"

"I'll be straightforward. This ritual isn't enough to free you from the Empire's control. The strength of ceremonial magic is closely related to the extent to which the executor restores the myths. Otherwise, wouldn't I be able to obtain the mighty power of the mythical God King if I joined an underground gang and killed the gang leader, the 'king,' as a 'rebel'? The world isn't that simple.

"Let's not talk about the power of the legendary God King. Even if you want a person to directly step into the Divine Realm, the materials for your ritual might require the assassination of the current emperor to satisfy the conditions of the ritual."

And if he could publicly kill the emperor of the empire, why would he need a King and Rebel ritual to obtain strength?

"What are you trying to say?" Vincent frowned and asked.

"I can help you become independent from the Empire, but I need you to give me the corresponding remuneration."

"You? What makes you say so?"

"With this."

As William spoke, he slammed the magical medium in his hand on the ground. An extremely complicated blue clock pattern unfolded around it, encompassing the entire temple hall.

It was as if a bell was chiming from afar.

Vincent felt a ridiculously powerful magical power infuse into the clock pattern through the yew magical medium before spreading to every corner of the hall.

Then, the pattern disappeared, and the surroundings returned to normal.

However, Vincent felt that a great spell that might require several magic choirs to cast had taken effect.

He observed his surroundings, but there didn't seem to be any special changes.

"What did you just do?" Vincent asked solemnly.

The other party didn't answer him. Instead, he bent down and picked up a handful of slag before scattering it into the sky.

The slag stopped in midair.

Time stopped.

Frost-type Divine Realm spell, Zero Entropy.

The magic chanter in front of him had already reached the Divine Realm!