Lord of Prayer

The principle was simple. If the fire wasn’t hot enough, you just had to add more fuel.

Tossing an Uncrowned in as kindling could turn even the faintest spark into a raging inferno. And since this volatile Energy Source had been converted from a Crowned King, adding more fuel would only make the flames burn even hotter.

There were no final words. The Black-robed Man had always been a man of few words. He stood up straight and calmly reached out toward the burning, volatile Energy Source. The flames instantly engulfed his entire body.

The intense heat radiated outward, dispelling the chilling cold of the Abyssal Contamination. Within the searing light and flames, his body slowly faded into nothingness, finally turning to ash.

A faint voice faded into the air. "Siegfried... It’s up to you now..."

Zhou Chen lowered his gaze in silence and nodded.

In the blinding light, the volatile Energy Source rapidly swelled to the height of a person, its energy fluctuations multiplying several times over. Even so, the Eternal Burning Star Core remained an unmovable behemoth.

Everyone knew how immense the Energy contained within an Eternal Burning Star Core was. If they could be detonated so easily, the Star Association would have ordered them all to be sealed away long ago. They certainly wouldn’t have allowed the Alchemy Association to sell them so widely.

"It’s still not enough..."

Among the seven Salvation Army Warriors, a green-eyed man in his thirties murmured softly, "Then it’s my turn."

He walked straight toward the Energy Source without the slightest hesitation. Throwing himself into it, he was consumed by light and heat, vanishing in an instant. The Energy Source expanded once more.

Then came the second, and the third... As if they had long been prepared for this sacrifice, they lined up to throw themselves into the furnace, becoming fuel for the fire.

"Well, goodbye, comrades."

A woman with a face covered in dust, who carried a long whip, turned and waved to her remaining comrades. She smiled. "It was an honor to fight alongside you all."

She turned back around and strode resolutely toward the light before her.

In the final moments of her life, she closed her eyes. Her lips parted.

"Mama..."

The brilliant flames surged.

The Energy Source swelled once more.

And then, the next.

"We’ll succeed." The man patted his comrade’s shoulder, perhaps comforting him, perhaps comforting himself, or perhaps both. He took a deep breath, walked forward, and threw himself into the furnace, instantly incinerated to ash.

"Siegfried, you’re the Alchemist. The rest is up to you," the man said as he walked into the flames.

"..." The last person said nothing. He simply nodded at Zhou Chen, then walked unflinchingly toward the Energy Source to reunite with his comrades.

In the silence, Zhou Chen closed his eyes.

This outcome had been decided long ago.

From the moment they had obtained the "World," sacrifice had been inevitable.

There was only one way to destroy the Time Barrier and the Matrix Core: detonate the Power Furnace. The resulting explosion would be powerful enough to destroy the Royal Tower, and perhaps even the entire Capital. The detonators—they themselves—would certainly die.

They all knew this. That was why they had chosen a more meaningful death, contributing the last of their strength to their country and its people.

Facing death, no one wavered, no one felt Fear. Their will was unshakable, their conviction absolute.

Zhou Chen could clearly feel their spirit.

’If it’s just a matter of sacrifice, then let it be us. If the deaths of a few can pull North Carolina from a hell of eternal damnation, then let us die.’

’As long as it saves more people from this sea of suffering...’

And so, they gave their all, merging with the fire and light, causing the volatile Energy Source to swell to one-fifth the size of the Eternal Burning Star Core.

Zhou Chen sighed. ’They entrusted the most important task to me... Am I really that trustworthy? Weren’t they afraid I would fail them, that their sacrifice would be in vain?’

He hated shouldering the expectations of others. If he messed up, he would be wracked with guilt, and those who had placed their faith in him would be left with only disappointment.

But this time, he was willing to bear the weight of their sacrifice. More than that, he was willing to give it his all, to see it through without a second thought.

Some things just touch a part of you, deep inside.

It was true in the past, and it was true now.

’Then leave it to me. And please, believe in me.’

As he whispered this to himself, Zhou Chen lifted his gaze. A pale fire burned fiercely in the depths of his eyes.

...

「Jinzhu.」

With a soft sound, metallic powder trickled from Zhou Chen’s fingertips. A vast and complex Alchemy Matrix instantly covered the entire living room. A scorching wave of pale fire surged outward, devouring and incinerating everything in its path, reducing it all to ash.

The Advanced Secret Ceremony had begun.

Behind Zhou Chen, a resplendent Golden Soul slowly began to rise.

His reverence for those who had sacrificed themselves, combined with his own self-realization, allowed him to cross the final threshold to the Golden Soul.

...

At that moment, all the Prayer Star Seeds ignited within the brilliant flames, transforming into a beautiful stream of light that poured into the Energy Source, causing it to swell once more.

Zhou Chen glanced at the Painter, who was still under the Black-robed Man’s control. She was paralyzed by an Immobilization Technique, unable to move a muscle. He could almost hear her silent, terrified screams.

"It’s your turn."

Zhou Chen had no inclination to be gentle. He threw the Painter directly into the Energy Source. In an instant, she was incinerated into a pile of ash.

Immediately after, Essence surged, and a colossal Hammer of Forging materialized in his hands.

Fueled by the sacrifices of the fallen and the power of their wishes, the Energy Source had now reached a point where it was sufficient to detonate the Eternal Burning Star Core. But just to be safe, it was best to add a little something extra.

Zhou Chen raised the Hammer of Forging and slammed it down onto the Energy Source.

BAM!

The immense force of the rebound shattered both of the body’s arms, sending flesh and blood flying.

The power of the Destruction of All Things was injected into it, causing the volatile Energy Source to swell again, reaching half the size of the Eternal Burning Star Core. The fluctuations it now emitted were terrifying.

Retracting the Hammer of Forging, Zhou Chen kicked the Alchemy Explosives he had prepared earlier into the volatile Energy Source.

And so, a chain reaction began.

The Alchemy Explosives detonated the volatile Energy Source, which in turn detonated the Eternal Burning Star Core. In that instant, the Darkness ignited.

Siegfried’s body was instantly vaporized by the infinite heat.

Immediately after, an unprecedented, dazzling light erupted from the Darkness. A vast, world-shaking roar brewed in the silence.

In what felt like both a fleeting instant and an entire century, the expanding light easily obliterated the frozen Time Barrier, the Matrix Core, and everything else, swallowing it all.

After cleanly tearing through the Royal Tower’s defenses, the brilliant light surged outward and shot into the sky.

BOOM!

A massive mushroom cloud slowly rose. The spreading, incendiary winds churned the very heavens and earth as a light like the Sun illuminated all of Hell.