Our Family Has Fallen

And the family’s decline he speaks of is not only a lament of his own experiences, but also a reflection that no matter how humanity struggles, it ultimately leads to decline...

Saying so much is just to emphasize that everything Lance does is meaningless, no matter how hard he tries, he cannot escape his predetermined fate.

"I’ve done what I was supposed to do, and that’s enough."

Lance did not intend to ridicule the ancestor, no point in attacking someone already dead, no matter what he’s done, it doesn’t matter now.

Regarding the ancestor’s nihilistic surrender faction, it cannot influence Lance, who is focused on practical matters.

Whatever the Primordial God wants to do, let him do it, whenever he awakens, it doesn’t concern him; he trusts in the wisdom of those who come after.

Such medieval life should have long been destroyed for a modern person like Lance; what’s the point of an ordinary person living in a world more painful than hell?

The ancestor heard Lance’s words and said nothing more, silently consumed by the Void Devourer as if giving up the struggle.

At last, the darkest depths of that place called Hamlet... vanished.

Lance thought he would feel excited, thrilled, finally taking down the ancestor after such a long struggle.

But when the moment truly arrived, Lance felt calm instead, without surprise, because his suffering deserved such a result.

Throughout the process, Lance employed no tricks, reaching this point was entirely through his own effort, his extraordinary talent!

He just stood there, motionless, not knowing what he was pondering.

But for Reynard and Dismas, defeating the Evil God was a form of liberation, a kind of redemption.

Supporting them up to this point was the Lord’s words on the old path; whether they believed it or not, it gave two confused souls a direction to advance, and that was enough to keep fighting for.

It wasn’t defeating the ancestor that redeemed them, but the experiences during this process, they redeemed each other alongside Hamlet.

Perhaps as early as the old path, we found redemption...

As one of the discerning people, Balistan knew of the Ascension Sect and the Evil God, now he finally fulfilled the promise to the Lord, repaid the blood debt...

Everyone at the scene fell into a kind of silence, emotions rolling within known only to themselves, but for the Limping Walker, it seemed like ’Have you all gone numb?’

An impatient roar woke Lance; he wasn’t immersed in the moment but raised his hand to heal the Limping Walker, completely eliminating the battle’s injuries.

"Without you, it wouldn’t have been so easy to succeed this time; now that the one who tormented you is dead, our pact is fulfilled."

Speaking thus, Lance handed over the [Void Devourer], the meaning clear, and the covenant on the panel had disappeared.

Indeed, Lance used its captive anger to form a pact, the key being the ancestor, their common enemy.

The relationship could be simplified: Lance needed the Limping Walker to draw fire and inflict damage, while the Limping Walker needed Lance’s continuous healing to support its revenge.

One could say before the ancestor’s death they were a steadfast community of interest, otherwise why would Lance abandon the ancestor’s exposed weakness to save Limping Walker, and Limping Walker take risks to save Lance?

Now that the ancestor is dead, contradictions between Lance and the Limping Walker emerged, because no matter the scenario, one is human and the other is a Void Demon, different positions.

Lance couldn’t be like the ancestor, controlling or even imprisoning such a powerful Limping Walker, so there are only two choices: either kill it or amicably part ways...

Though Lance isn’t particularly ethical, he generally doesn’t destroy promises he made.

For the Limping Walker this battle was terrifying, honestly, even it felt the dread within; if not for Lance saving it several times, it might have been killed by the ancestor long ago.

Hence, before the ancestor died, it had to ensure Lance’s safety, daring to sweep a tentacle even into the Abyss to rescue him.

Now it seemed aware of the problem between them too.

Nonetheless, the Limping Walker did not accept the uniquely shaped Warhammer to end their pact, but rather modified the agreement.

Indicating that next time one wants to summon it, a sacrifice must be provided, or it will come to collect personally.

Such demands exposed the Void Demon’s greed toward reality, recalling its prior madness facing the life force from the Heart of Creation it was heedless to any orders.

Lance knew clearly that if he couldn’t suppress this creature, it wouldn’t be so easygoing; with the ancestor’s death, it could possibly attack the team.

This item is limited to his use; letting others summon it might invite disaster, making it hard to kill or expel.

Yet Lance couldn’t refuse, as only by keeping it himself can he prevent the Limping Walker from sneaking into reality, otherwise it’ll only hide the item somewhere, attracting ambitious seekers like the ancestor.

Thinking thus, Lance slowly pocketed the Warhammer, then swung to tear open a spatial rift, sending the Limping Walker back to the Void.

"You all go out first, I’ll handle the rest."

After the Limping Walker left, Lance gestured to Reynard and the others to exit the space, and the three left without hesitation.

𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

Once the place was cleared of people, the Black Armor turned into Dark Flame and dissipated, revealing Lance’s scorched skin, though it recovered instantly, such injuries were trivial.

Changing into clothes, Lance didn’t hurry to leave, but waited, waiting for the reward of offering the ancestor.

And then the Void responded, but the gift was somewhat puzzling to him.

Not Spiritual Essence, but Divinity, and not just single digits like before, watching the panel numbers shift, finally stabilizing at fifty.

Lance roughly calculated the source of his Divinity:

Gulf Icon +1, God of Pigmen +3, Dungeon Saint +5.

Which means the ancestor contributed exactly 41 Divinity, this was his lifelong scheme, even sacrificing Hamlet for it?

Truly laughable...

But none of this mattered, previously Lance did not understand Divinity’s significance, just some numbers on a panel.

When Divinity reached double digits, he realized its purpose, decisively activating Bless; this time consuming Divinity instead of Spiritual Essence.

With all my insights, with my boundless wisdom, with my life’s martial path, with my invincible aptitude, Strengthening!

The newly acquired Divinity began to decrease, finally shaking the bottleneck that restricted his power advancement, an unprecedented feeling blossomed within.

The force had transcended human limits, and Lance was advancing to a greater existence.

Truthfully, Lance underwent no intense suffering, it was like water flowing, elevating into another realm.

The panel’s [Legendary] disappeared, replaced by [Demigod].

Lance glanced at the panel, the upgrading surprisingly consumed ten Divinity, leaving forty.

What did this mean?

If humans desired Championship status, they needed Transcendent power, becoming a Transcendent.

Achieving Legendary required Divinity, to tread a new path, touching human’s taboo—God!

This concept is quite broad, none are truly Gods, even a bit of Divinity is a Demigod, ten points of Divinity is also a Demigod, creatures like the God of Pigmen and Church Saints can be termed Demigods.

Ten points of Divinity as a Demigod might be a panel’s standard assessment, typically stricter than others.

As for higher levels, Lance wasn’t obsessively crazed like the ancestor, pouring all remaining Divinity inside, he stopped at this point to study it.