Chapter 342: The God of Death, Karl

After the countless magic runes merged into the emblem of the Master of All Ends, a bright light almost visible from the entire continent of Faerûn shot up into the sky, breaking through the planar barrier and instantly reaching the star realm.

It precisely landed on the Master of All Ends, who was suffering from the effects of the Divine Form Annihilation spell and whose body was continuously sanding—a poor state to be in.

The Master of All Ends, caught off guard by the casting of a mortal arcanist targeting him, failed to immediately grasp the effects of the deification spell, unlike the goddess of magic. Moreover, his entire power was devoted to resisting the Divine Form Annihilation spell, paying no heed to a spell cast by a mere mortal.

The lion does not regard the ant.

Could a mere mortal's spell kill Him?

On the other side, the goddess of magic breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing the Master of All Ends' reaction.

Had the Master of All Ends been overly cautious about the deification spell, she would have had to risk further injury to distract him. Now, less effort was required.

"Deities always underestimate mortals, myself included."

"Yegor, even you, the god of death, will meet your end someday."

Time seemed to slow down.

The goddess of magic looked at the Master of All Ends and thought silently.

At that moment, the ephemeral emblem of death passed through the swirling death god power around the Master of All Ends and entered his body.

The deity stiffened.

For the first time, his emotionless black eyes showed clear emotional turbulence—disbelief mixed with anger.

He glared at the goddess of magic, his gaze also falling on the prime material world, seeing the grand arcanist within numerous enhancing arrays and the covering giant silver dragon.

At that moment, he realized he had unwittingly fallen into the trap laid by the goddess of magic.

Simultaneously, an infinite amount of death god power erupted around the Master of All Ends.

His body exploded.

At that instant, a vast, boundless surge of death god power roiled and flickered intensely, taking shape in the star realm into a vast visage of Karsus, rapidly solidifying.

"It has begun."

Inside the continent of Faerûn, Garon looked solemnly towards Karsus.

At that moment, Karsus's body lit up with divine light, indicating the successful hit of the deification spell on the Master of All Ends. However, his expression twisted in agony, his body quickly turning ethereal.

Cracks like lightning appeared on his body as death god power burst forth.

All the knowledge, power, endless memories, understanding of the multiverse, indifferent observation of the world's fate—all belonging to the god of death—flooded into Karsus's body and soul.

How could a grand arcanist who had lived only decades withstand the full might of a god?

In the main timeline, Karsus's pride in his arcanist abilities and his overconfidence in his own deification spell, without the goddess's enhancement arrays or her protection, led to his instant death from the overwhelming power.

But here, many preparations had been made before casting the deification spell.

This included countless enhancement arrays and an arcane chain linked to every arcanist and Ferlin magus.

In the star realm, the goddess of magic smiled as she watched the death god power taking the form of Karsus.

She activated the magic network, based on the arcane chain, which then shone brilliantly.

At that moment, the skies over the continent of Faerûn seemed to be enveloped by a grid-like canopy, each node representing an arcanist or a Ferlin magus. As the arcane chain was activated, including the grand arcanists, everyone's eyes darkened as they fell unconscious, their bodies cracking just like Karsus.

Karsus, at the center of the arcane chain, bore the pain shared with the entire realm of Netheril and the Ferlin domain.

If Karsus failed to ascend before his body and will were destroyed by the Master of All Ends's overwhelming power, then both the Empire of Netheril and the Ferlin domain would cease to exist along with the grand arcanist.

But if successful, a new god would be born.

And regardless of success, the prime material world was currently enduring a disaster.

Those near death suffered immensely but could not close their eyes; the dead buried in graves returned to life; healthy people suddenly dropped dead...

Uncontrolled death authority affected the prime material world.

Time ticked away.

As Karsus's body burst with cracks and began to fade, his divinity grew stronger, and the death god power forming into Karsus in the star realm became more solid and clear.

Yet, the death god power still occasionally roiled and shook.

Between the contortions of Karsus's form, it changed

 into the roaring, angry figure of the god Yegor.

"Mistrael!"

"You dream of replacing me with a mortal; it's impossible, utterly impossible!"

The goddess of magic smiled brightly, "But at least, this can replace a part of you, can't it?"

As she spoke, the figure of the god Yegor twisted again into the form of Karsus.

The aspect of the god of death changed between Karsus and Yegor—now calm and rational, now madly distorted, now cold and indifferent—and continuously emitted low, incomprehensible murmurs belonging to the god of death.

Suddenly, an icosahedron-like crystal appeared at its heart.

As time passed, the images of Karsus and Yegor on the body of the god of death changed more rapidly and noticeably, the endless divine power seemed ready to split, and cracks appeared on the icosahedron crystal.

This was the divine essence of the Master of All Ends.

Each facet represented His power in one domain, that is, the divine authority He held.

Death, the dead, the order of death, funerals and graves, the undead state, undead creatures, desolation, aging, exhaustion, tyranny, twilight.

Crack, crack!

In a crisp sound that echoed through the star realm, one facet of Yegor's divinity broke away.

Endless death god power, centered around the divine shard, solidified into the form of Karsus, while the remaining divine power stabilized and gathered into the ten-faced divinity, taking the form of Yegor.

At this moment, Yegor's dark eyes were colder than ever.

His divine power level clearly weakened from a strong divine force to a medium one, and most crucially, he lost the key authority of death.

The Master of All Ends held eleven divine domains.

But the most important, most critical, and most valued by Himself was the authority of death; otherwise, He would not call Himself the god of death.

Then the question arises.

Without the death divinity, can Yegor still be called the god of death?

"Mistrael, you win this time."

"But death is my essence, and one day I will take back the authority of death, making you and this audacious mortal arcanist pay."

Saying this, the one who could no longer be called the god of death, Yegor's body became ethereal and disappeared from the star realm, whereabouts unknown.

Harsh words can be said.

But Yegor, now stripped of his core divinity, was no match for the goddess of magic, so he wisely fled.

In the prime material world.

The magic arrays in the canyon had all shattered, including the canyon itself, which was corrupted and eroded by the death god power bursting from Karsus's body. Garon dared not get involved, flapping his dragon wings, soaring into the sky, and looking down at the center of the death god power.

Cracks had already covered ninety percent of Karsus's body.

But his expression of pain and struggle had now calmed down, and his body had become completely transparent. Before shattering, he fully merged with the death god power and gradually vanished into the void.

The arcane chain hidden in the air, one by one, arcanists and Ferlin magi opened their eyes.

They now understood what had just happened.

The light of Netheril, the youngest grand arcanist in the history of Netheril, had ascended in one step, becoming the first grand arcanist in Netheril to become a god.

Among the arcanists of Netheril, a few, out of admiration for Karsus, instantly converted to followers of the new god of death.

Ioelum looked up into the sky, his face showing satisfaction.

"From now on, Netheril will have its own patron deity."

In Ioelum's view, despite the goddess of magic being an outsider, Karsus was a part of Netheril, and as a deity, he would be Netheril's strongest support.

In the star realm.

The death god power that had been stripped away had now completely solidified into the form of Karsus.

The divine shard at his heart radiated endless death god power, eventually transforming into a complete, circular divinity, holding only the most core authority of death.

Around Karsus, a light typical of a lesser deity shone.

The deification had not been completely successful.

But this was Karsus and the goddess of magic's initial plan.

To seize the full might of a strong divine power was highly improbable, and likely to be countered by the opponent. It was better to step back and take a more secure approach, seizing only one of the Master of All Ends's authorities: death.

After losing the authority of death, Yegor fell from strong divine power to medium.

Karsus, in turn, ascended to godhood

, his death authority alone becoming divine, making him a weak divine power deity.

However, due to the special nature of the death authority, he would be the most special among the lesser divine powers, and underestimating him would be costly.

At the same time.

The newly anointed god of death, the new sovereign of the dead, opened his eyes.

Karsus looked towards Mistrael, smiling, but his eyes, like Yegor's, had turned pure black, giving his smile an eerie edge.

Karsus seemed aware of this.

His gaze shifted, and his eyes returned to their original clear, wise color.

But both Karsus and the goddess of magic knew this was just a facade.

"Karsus, how do you feel now?"

The goddess of magic asked softly.

Karsus raised his hand, and the pen of death, capable of writing the end of all beings, appeared in his hand along with the tome of death. The scythe of death obediently floated beside him.

These artifacts were derivatives of the death divinity.

Even the underworld was created based on the authority of death.

Now the ruler of the underworld was Karsus, and the divine realm painstakingly crafted by Yegor had become his dowry.

This showed how significant the loss of the death authority was for Yegor.

"Very well."

Karsus closed his eyes briefly, spreading his arms wide and taking a deep breath.

"I feel omnipotent, a thought could end the lives of billions, a thought could revive the endless dead."

The goddess of magic smiled, "Death God Karsus, the dead of the multiverse have welcomed their new king. I celebrate your rebirth here."

Karsus opened his eyes.

"I owe you a lot for this, Mist."

Karsus hesitated slightly.

"You may call me by my name, Mistrael."

The goddess of magic continued to smile gently.

"But I've grown accustomed to calling you Sister Mist."

The new god of death struggled a bit with his expression before saying.

The goddess of magic was slightly taken aback, then her smile deepened. "Then you may continue to call me as you wish."

"Just as before, how you address me is entirely up to you."

Karsus struggled silently for a moment, his eyes shifting between black and normal, then he shouted sharply, and the death god power burst forth once more before it all disappeared.

Looking up, Karsus faced the goddess of magic with a familiar smile. "Sister Mist, and teacher, even as the god of death, you still have my unconditional trust and support."

He motioned with his finger, pulling back the remaining death god power from the goddess of magic. The patterns like the spots of the dead faded from her body, and her aura quickly returned to normal.

"Karl, the authority of death is special and powerful, and Yegor will consider you his greatest enemy in the future."

"You need to be prepared for this."

Karsus, his full name, and Karl, his nickname from when he was human, which Garon and the goddess of magic often used to address him.

"Moreover, the authority of death will erode your will; after all, you were not its original master."

Hearing the goddess of magic's words, Karsus nodded solemnly. "I understand this. I will control death, not be influenced by it."

At that moment, in the continent of Faerûn, the death god power that now belonged to Karsus transformed into his avatar.

Karsus's avatar looked at the canyon eroded and damaged by the death god power, then looked up to see the hovering silver dragon in the sky.

"Teacher, I have succeeded."

Karsus spoke softly.

Garon folded his dragon wings and reverted from his colossal form, slowly descending into the ravaged canyon.

The authority of death was special and powerful; the Master of All Ends was also among the most powerful beings within the strong divine forces. If possible, Garon would even risk a great danger to try using the deification spell on him.

Unfortunately, the goddess of magic would not assist him.

A goddess willing to engage in a divine battle with a powerful divine force while injured, a dragon from another timeline, an empire with thousands of grand arcanists, an ancient race not inferior to a magical empire, plus a talented grand arcanist, and the greatest crystallization of mortal spellcasters in the multiverse—all these factors combined to create the miracle of a mortal arcanist ascending to godhood in one step.

Regardless of the process, at this moment, Karsus had indeed become a deity, one of the most powerful beings in the multiverse.

Ascending in one step. This fate-like treatment even made Garon a bit envious.

He looked down at Karsus, who looked as usual. "Karsus, in this timeline, your name is now known to the deities of the heavens."

"A mortal, who has seized the core authority of a powerful deity."

"How does it feel?"

Karsus smiled, echoing his response to the goddess of magic, "It feels good. After becoming a god, I truly understand the power of deities."

"Without Sister Mist's assistance, the deification spell would have had no chance of succeeding against a powerful divine force."

The newly born lord of death bowed slightly to Garon, then straightened up and said, "Teacher, I will not forget the guidance you have given me."

He looked up at the massive creature and said, "Now that I am the god of death, you are the teacher of the god of death."

Karsus suddenly smiled and asked Garon, "Teacher, how does it feel to have a god of death as a disciple?"

Garon laughed heartily, his dragon chant sounding like thunder.

"Karl, I will take pride in you."

Karsus smiled, "Teacher, I already know that you are a traveler from another timeline, but now that I am here, you can do as you please in this timeline. Why not stay?"

Garon shook his head, "Your kindness is appreciated, but my presence is not limited to one timeline."

Karsus thought for a moment, slightly regretful, "The river of time is perilous, and it resists the footsteps of deities, otherwise, I would love to visit your timeline with you, teacher."

Garon's eyes flickered, "I actually have a way to make the river of time accept you, allowing you to stay in the main timeline for a moment."

"Oh?"

"That would be wonderful."

Immediately, Garon constructed a Time Alliance Contract.

After understanding the contents of the Time Alliance, Karsus did not hesitate to sign his name.

This disciple, possessing the authority of death, would be Garon's most powerful ally in time for a long period.

Garon had given Karsus a new life, and in return, Karsus became Garon's invisible wing of protection.

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