Apocalypse Forecast

Without shying away from her own gradually solidifying dire symptoms, Emara calmly closed her jacket, "If not for this, why would I seek a cure from Helios?"

She paused for a moment, then laughed self-deprecatingly: "It’s just a pity, fate toys with people..."

For others, Helios is indeed precious, but as a member of the Egyptian Royal Family, the High Priestess of the Cat God Bastet, she lacks neither Alchemical texts nor accumulated knowledge, nor does she need to seek wisdom from outside.

She has almost everything she could obtain.

So why travel so far?

This time, the journey beyond Current Circumstances is only to seek a method to treat herself, even if the chance is one in ten thousand.

But who could have imagined that Helios Chariot, closest to the age of the gods in the world, would explode halfway?

After a long silence, Huai Shi sighed softly.

"Bastet truly favors you, Ms. Emara."

Emara remained indifferent, "Whether it’s a blessing or a curse, who can truly know?"

This is the hidden ailment within the Egypt Genealogy, a faint shadow known to few.

Ancestral regression.

This is like a genetic disease-like defect.

Perhaps due to some insight, some touch, or simply some coincidence; countless reasons can lead to this.

Perhaps it’s just simply... she’s getting older.

The resonance she shared with the Cat God Bastet exceeded the safe limits, causing her innate divine blood to begin purifying, accelerating towards the form of the ancient gods at a hundredfold, thousandfold speed.

If this were a thousand years ago, it would be a blessing that would delight all members of her lineage; for she had been favored by the Cat God, perhaps with time, she could become the earthly incarnation of the Cat God.

A living demigod.

But after the gods fell, it turned into a tragic trauma and curse...

For all gods have vanished without a trace.

Her will and talents are insufficient to control this overly expanding and violent divine nature; instead, she’s suffered erosion, triggering an almost solidified distortion.

After the Nine Pillar God fell, what this bloodline points to is no longer divinity, but to Styx, heavily sealed and hidden in the Hell by the Egypt Genealogy, the final resting place of the gods.

In long-past times, the Nine Pillar God sought to escape the grip of fate by bestowing honor upon mortals through their bloodline, leading the way in achieving a governance of man and god, forming a highly unified ruling system.

By merging divine and royal authority, they turned humans into demigods, sharing most of the burden, allowing themselves to breathe away from fate.

Similar methods were employed by various gods in other regions to varying degrees, but none surpassed Egypt in its thoroughness.

This certainty has its strengths, yet also unavoidable drawbacks.

If human governance becomes chaotic, it inevitably affects the operation of the gods, and can even weaken the state of the gods.

Even the Pharaoh’s inheritance was once interrupted.

Even though the Nine Pillar God and Rome Genealogy reached an agreement and the dynasty was restored, it was nonetheless greatly weakened.

The state of ancestral regression emerged at that time and spiraled out of control after the gods fell.

Back then, the Egypt Genealogy willingly lent Styx to the Utopia for research, aiming to create an altered Osiris, hoping to uncover methods to counteract the allure of Styx through research.

Unfortunately, it still only addressed the symptoms rather than the root causes.

The source of Egypt has long been associated with death.

Of course, there are geniuses, exceptional figures, and heroes capable of controlling, even mastering such distortions, but how rare are such people?

Emara acknowledged that she lacked such talents.

She is already one hundred and forty-two years old and long abandoned the ambition of her youth. After exhausting all conventional methods, she can no longer delay the spread of this distortion.

If she cannot stop it, then she faces only two paths.

Either she can’t endure and accept the Mystic Ritual of the Temple Guardians, sacrificing herself, offering everything to the deity she worships, becoming an unknowing, unfeeling creature guarding Bastet’s sacred ground in eternal darkness, awaiting the day Bastet returns in divine form.

Then all Temple Guardians would find redemption, becoming divine envoys of Bastet. But the chance of this happening is so faint, it’s almost akin to death.

Or, she could pre-emptively transform into a mummy, remove her organs, freeze her soul, and bury everything into the funerary objects beneath the Pyramid. Awaiting a vacancy on the path to ascension prepared by the next Pharaoh, should she be selected; with the shelter of Authority Relic, she could naturally be successfully resurrected, return to the world, serving Egypt as an assist and subordinate of the Pharaoh. Ultimately, after the Pharaoh’s position is once again succeeded, she would return to Styx alongside the Pharaoh.

If she has a choice, this option is the best, it would at least continue her existence for another eighty years.

But there are only twenty-one slots on the path to ascension, and the competition each time is beyond fierce. Some have queued for hundreds of years and still haven’t been chosen, only to fade away silently buried in darkness.

If she doesn’t want to sit and wait, she must take a chance.

Even the slimmest hope is better.

She must find a way to survive.

And now the pure divinity on Helios is an invaluable medicine against the erosion of Styx.

With such a glimmer of hope in front of her, how could she possibly give it up?

At this moment, Huai Shi had fully grasped the determination of the old priestess before his eyes.

But he still couldn’t agree to this fair trade.

"I’m sorry, Ms. Emara, divine nature is also something indispensable for me."

Huai Shi raised his right hand, showing her his steel arm and the shackles set by the Existence Institute around his wrist.

Speaking of distortions, locked inside his Casting Furnace is something even more threatening than divine nature distortions — the flesh of Destructive Elements once released would cause damage and dire consequences even worse than divine nature distortions!

Moreover, beyond the supplement of divine nature, it also involves the Rejuvenation Crystals that Huai Shi must utilize.

As it pertains to advancement, he cannot retreat no matter what.

In the brief silence, Emara gazed at Huai Shi’s arm, her expression subtly shifting.

Whether it was anger or envy, in the end, she found it difficult to restrain a trace of admiration.

Just like she previously mentioned ’long admired,’ across the entire Helios, disregarding the monster Iz, aside from Garand and Publius, Huai Shi might be the last person she held in admiration.

The heir of the Ivory Tower, now the King of Tanbo in the Current Circumstances... even if we disregard all his achievements and just look at how he can still thrive after enduring the erosion of the Element of Destructive, he surpasses me countless times.

If only I had such an ability, why be troubled by the distortion of divine nature?

"It seems I have been presumptuous."

Emara nodded and solemnly said, "Then, there is only battle."

She raised the Scepter in her hand.

Going all out.

Then, a rousing drumbeat rose from the darkness beneath the Obelisk.

Subsequently, a massive silhouette trembled violently, with dozens of sharp limbs reaching out from the darkness, supporting the body as it slowly emerged from the dark Pyramid.

It was a massive stone monument, inscribed with the emblem of God, yet now it appeared like the gigantic abdomen of a spider, growing hideous faces and limbs, moving agilely.

Sacred Monument Spider!

Through the blessing of the deity, animating the stone monument inscribed with miracle heredity, a war machine was created.

Subsequently, the three Sacred Monument Spiders produced sarcophagi as if laying eggs, with countless bizarre Scarabs crawling over them.

A mummified cursed corpse horde climbed out from the sarcophagi, their wolf-like altered faces with blood-red eyes.

The Husky Wolf Warriors wielding divine weapons from the assembly line followed around the Sacred Monument Spiders, forming into formation. It was as if they were guarding the heavy weapons, prepared to breakthrough.

Besides over a hundred Husky Wolf Warriors, there were even four lavish chariots maneuvering from both flanks, with crowned skeletons wielding swords and long spears, burning with emerald flames.

This sight made Huai Shi gasp.

The hairs on his head stood on end.

This old lady seemingly moved her entire Pyramid over, such terrifying productivity!

On the first round, she staked everything on her divine nature, converting it all into servant terracotta warriors, then catalyzing a legion of Husky Wolf Warriors based on that, combined with the tank-like massive Sacred Monument Spiders.

This was already a fully established legion cluster.

If he was truly still hoping for the Incarnation of Anger to reverse the situation in one move, the result would indeed be uncertain.

If she were given another turn, she could probably create airborne units like the Judgement Spirits. By then, with infinite tactical combinations, even fighting against the Great Grandmaster would be as easy as fighting a weaker opponent, whatever way one wished to fight, it could be done.

It’s like having only a hundred dollars but achieving three thousand dollars worth of effects through money-making mechanisms.

This kind of snowballing operational method truly leaves one in awe.

Huai Shi simply cannot compare.

On the Seat of the Sun Caster, Huai Shi discreetly wiped a cold sweat: fortunately, he has deep connections and many pathways...

Blazing firelight ignited once again, the enormous Incarnation of Anger emerged from the Eternal Frozen Core, raising its head, its raging, burning eyes reflecting the enemies ahead.

Emara paused, unable to conceal her shock.

She never imagined that Huai Shi possessed such a high mastery of Alchemy, such pure Source Material Transformation had already firmly surpassed her.

Thankfully, the Egyptian Genealogy’s legion clusters were not lacking in experience for hunting such colossal creatures.

For millennia, the Pharaoh’s Guards had slain the gigantic magical monsters rampaging across the Nile, resulting in the river’s waters being stained red by blood for over half its time in a millennium.

Every annual flood season arrival brought the scent of death in the wind.

Now, the time to hunt had arrived!

Emara raised the Scepter, issuing commands, causing the drums and horns to sound anew!

The Sacred Monument Spiders, escorted by the Wolf Army, slowly advanced.

Yet the Incarnation of Anger didn’t rush deep into the enemy horde, staying put, stomping the cracked ground beneath with its iron hooves, waiting leisurely.

Waiting, waiting...

Waiting for half a day.

Impatiently turning to look back at the darkness behind.

Where are they?

Why haven’t they arrived yet!

"...Almost forgot!"

Atop the tower, Huai Shi slapped his forehead, finally realizing.

He hurriedly rummaged through his satchel, pulled out the remote control, pressed the switch, and instantly, a Halo from Paradise emerged above his head, illuminating with seven-colored light.

Dreamlike.

Subsequently, a high-pitched croak akin to a Raven’s cried out from within the Eternal Frozen Heart.