After learning about Lucelia, everyone turned their attention to the scales before them, the one capable of exchanging divinity.
Jason, looking at the scales, suddenly said, "I suddenly feel this might not be such a good idea."
"Why do you say that?" Simon suddenly asked.
"Think about it, if we put our existing divinity on them and then exchanged them...
We would only exchange them for crown-level treasures, right?" Jason said, looking at Simon.
Simon nodded.
For them, it was definitely for crown-level treasures.
"Have you ever considered that there are many more cases like Lucilia's in the entire world? Otherwise, the Four Gods and the other gods wouldn't be so busy that they couldn't spare a moment to resolve the demonic problem, or even offer assistance.
Even without even considering our journey, just thinking about our past lives reveals the depths of chaos in the Infinite Sea, surpassing even the Sea of Home.
It's shattered in every way."
This time, it wasn't just Simon; the others nodded in agreement.
They knew a little bit of the inside story.
The Four Gods truly wanted to offer assistance and resolve the demonic problem, but external conditions didn't allow it.
"Is it possible, then, that there are still many problems that require a deity to control, manage, and resolve while the world consciousness is dormant?
Like reincarnation, in this situation, if an exchange were to occur, as long as the right one is available, the needed divinity would surely emerge first.
Then, when we exchange later, we'll likely find a suitable one, but it will definitely be one related to the area where the deity's work is most needed right now."
After hearing Jason's theory,
Everyone nodded in agreement.
It's a very tricky angle, but you have to admit it's true.
After all, there's Lucelia's experience.
They saw it with their own eyes.
That divinity was eager to elevate Lucelia to a deity.
And the divinity that emerged first was indeed suitable, but it was also the one the world lacked the most. Once mastered, it would require the most work.
Simply put, the world lacks working cattle and horses.
Although these working beasts of burden are gods.
"Don't just think about the downsides; consider the upsides." Sofia suddenly said with a smile.
"There are certainly many benefits, but you must have other ideas." Jason looked at her.
Sofia nodded. "We now know that the path to godhood is a rather arduous one. But precisely because the world needs gods, even the creatures above need such a god to quickly control the situation.
So, is it possible to achieve godhood during this timeframe? And, as you describe, would it be extremely easy?
Because the other gods of the world are backing you up, naturally providing assistance.
You could easily become a god, without having to endure countless hardships and dangers. You could easily become powerful after becoming a god, because the world needs it."
"Hiss... Indeed." Jason stroked his chin and nodded.
This is called gaining and losing.
But for those of them who already wanted to ascend to godhood, this wasn't a bad thing.
This was even a rare opportunity; the sooner they achieved godhood, the greater the rewards.
Assuming the world didn't end.
Arka smiled and suddenly asked, "Do you know the incantations and spells required to enter this place?"
Everyone nodded.
They still had some memory; they'd memorize it after reading it once.
"That's good."
"Then let's get out."
With that, they exited through the portal. After they left, the Libra Gate closed.
Lucelia, emerging from the room, looked even more gloomy.
"I can't take it anymore! Everyone's urging me to get started right away."
"It's like they can't wait for me to start working... Stop arguing! Shut up!"
Lucelia suddenly shouted, clearly addressing the countless voices in her head. It was even a natural sound.
Everyone was immediately startled.
They fell silent and stepped aside.
Lucelia's mind finally seemed to clear, and she sighed quietly.
After glancing at the others, her gaze fell on the puppet girls wandering and playing in the hall.
A smile suddenly broke out on her face.
Then, a thought struck her, she looked at Alka: "Alka, I remember there's a large group of souls in the Great Library, right? Many of them were once scholars who studied souls."
Alka nodded involuntarily.
Indeed, there are, and they've always been in the small world, currently serving as the Great Library's administrators.
"If you don't mind... let them go to me, hehehe."
Lucelia came over, hugged Alka's arm, and looked at him with blinking eyes.
Seeing this expression, Alka could only say, "Although they're loyal to me, they're free. You'll have to go and negotiate with them.
But I personally agree. At least, following you to repair the world is much better than them sitting around in the library doing nothing."
"Hehe, I was just waiting for you to say that."
With that, Lucelia vanished from the scene.
"Looks like you're really busy." Julia, usually rather lazy, couldn't help but feel troubled by the situation.
Her favorite daily activity was playing the piano in the sea breeze. Aside from routine training and meditation, she was mostly lazy and unhurried.
If she were suddenly busy like Lucelia, she'd probably go crazy.
After a few words of conversation, Lucelia reappeared.
"Done."
Hearing this, Alka silently sensed her own little world. "You've abducted all the souls?"
Lucille had abducted not only the scholars and knights in the library, but also those ignorant souls in the outer reaches that had been infested by the Abyssal Aura and subsequently successfully purged it.
In other words, not a single soul remained in his small world.
Lucille smiled and nodded.
Then she looked at the puppet girls still playing around the room.
"Gather! Gather!"
At this voice, all the puppet girls hurried over. They were momentarily confused, thinking something had happened.
Lucille looked at them.
Suddenly, she said, "Now, you, you are all employees of the great ferryman Lucelia! You will sail the Styx.
Each of you will have your own little boat, sailing the Styx, guiding souls who need to cross it!
From now on, the Puppet Knights will be completely reformed and transformed into the Styx Ferrymen! We will dedicate our strength to the order of the world!
We will be the ferrymen of the Styx, the guardians of souls.
For the glory of the Mother of the World!"
Lucelia delivered a long, inexplicable speech.
But it must be said that she was truly the leader of the puppet girls. Her words immediately stirred the spirits of all the other girls.
They all followed suit, shouting and yelling.
Whether they understood or not was irrelevant; the cheers were all that mattered.
"Good! Very energetic! Now follow me!"
Lucille said, winking at Alka and the others.
With a gentle flick,
A skeletal door slowly rose in the bright daylight of their living room.
The door was composed of a pile of different bones, revealing the bones of various races and life forms.
It slowly slid open, its creaking sound almost piercing.
As the door swung open, a soul-stirring aura washed over them, a piercing chill.
They could even hear the gurgling of water flowing from behind the door.
Amidst this soul-stirring aura and strange gurgling sound, they felt as if their souls were being pulled out of their bodies.
A tattered cloak, pale gray with a hint of green, appeared on Luille, and the hood was lifted and placed on her head.
The cursed sword that once existed appeared in Lucelia's hand, but its shape was changing, transforming into a massive scythe.
"You still say you're not the Grim Reaper!" Jason shouted.
How is this different from the Grim Reaper?
"I'm a ferryman, and this is just a pole!" Lucelia argued.
She grimaced.
Then, leading the puppet girls and the souls she had sent to unknown destinations, she entered the gate, which then closed.
No one could sense Lucelia's presence.
Alka couldn't help but be surprised.
Although she understood what Lucelia meant by being busy, she hadn't expected to be thrown into the work of maintaining world order right after she emerged.
"Um, what are we doing now?" Juanlu suddenly asked.
"Let's go to the front lines. We can only go there now to relieve the pressure there."
Even though Lucilia was focused on the more important task of maintaining the world's cyclical order, they still had eight Stage 8 warriors.
This was still a formidable force. Once deployed to the front lines, it would greatly alleviate the pressure there.
Hearing this, everyone nodded.
This was indeed the way to go.
"Then open the door and send us there?" Jason said.
Alka shook her head.
"We don't know what the situation is like on the front lines right now. What if I send you directly into the demonic zone? What will we do?"
They'd been so busy these past few days.
They'd only been back for two or three days.
They hadn't had time to check on the situation on the front lines.
"The City of Return should still be there. Let's go directly to it," Simon suddenly said.
Hearing this, Alka couldn't help but nod.
The City of Return was indeed very close to the front lines, and it was still there. If it weren't, they would definitely know.
Alka opened the door immediately, and everyone followed, passing through the door and arriving at the City of Return.
However, when they saw the City of Return, they were completely stunned.
For what they saw was not the City of Return, but a massive, towering fortress.
The surrounding walls were forty or fifty meters high, stretching as far as the eye could see.
And the sheer size of the City of Return was even more outrageous than any anti-magic fortress they had ever seen.
Especially the defensive equipment, the various elemental artillery, and the towers brimming with spells and energy.
It looked like a war fortress, not a City of Return at all.
All around them were various supplies, buildings, and people and wounded coming and going. The sounds of killing continued to echo.
"Is there any news from other areas?"
A soldier, bloodied and with a bandaged right hand, watched Alka and his companions pass through the portal and hurried over to ask.
He hadn't even noticed the portal itself; it looked different.
Because one of his eyes was also bandaged.
Looking at the surroundings, Alka shook his head.
"We're not here to deliver news. We're here to defend the front lines against demons."
The severely injured soldier nodded, clearly a commonplace experience.
"Over there, see that big tent? All those coming to support the jihad can report there."
With that, he ran off.
Soldiers bustled about everywhere. Even though Alka and the others had arrived through the portal, no one paid them any attention, as everyone was incredibly busy.
Of course, passing through portals was nothing unusual here.
Wounded soldiers were constantly being carried by unknown single-handed machines past them.
"So, the City of Return has become a frontline fortress?" Simon asked.
The surrounding scene was striking, as they had already spotted the Vastva.
"Bang!"
A loud bang echoed nearby.
Everyone looked over.
In the distance, blazing flames rose to the sky and struck the city walls. Though seemingly blocked by something, the explosion still produced a powerful sound, sending a huge cloud of smoke and flames rising into the sky.
But the interesting thing was...
Of the busy soldiers around, only a few turned their heads to notice, those who appeared to have just arrived. The others were still busy with their own affairs.
Clearly, this had become the norm.
"Let's go to the tent first."
While they clearly didn't need to go there, they could get some information there and perhaps find someone to make arrangements.
After all, they knew nothing about this place.
Soon, they made their way through the crowd and arrived at the tent.
There was a long line of people waiting.
Alka noticed.
The reinforcements were roughly divided into two categories.
One type came on their own, and the other type was troops recruited by certain forces.
The recruited troops were sent directly to the front lines, apparently having already been allocated. Meanwhile, the reinforcements would be assigned based on their strength and current situation.
The huge tent stretched for a kilometer.
However, Alka and his companions seemed to have been recognized as soon as they entered.
A priest in church robes approached.
His white robe had long since turned black, stained with blood; it was clear he hadn't had time to change or clean it.
"Is this Lord Alka? I didn't expect you to arrive so soon. Please wait a moment."
He then asked Alka and the others to sit down beside him, then hurried away.
He must have gone to call someone who could arrange for Alka and the others.
Alka and the others sat in a corner of the tent, waiting.
"Speaking of which, I have a question," Juanlu asked.
"Alka, aren't you going to pursue your path to godhood?"
Pororo looked at Alka and suddenly interjected, "Becoming a thief?"
"Tsk."
Alka blinked.
"Damn it! I already said I'm not a thief. But I don't need to proceed just yet. I need enough time, enough for me to instantly ascend to godhood."
Hearing this, everyone knew Alka might have his own plans, so they stopped talking.
After all, they didn't understand the path to godhood. They weren't qualified, so naturally, they couldn't offer any useful advice.
Those who could offer advice were already preoccupied with their journey to godhood.
Furthermore, Alka's ability was that of a thief, and they didn't quite understand how he achieved godhood. Could he be stealing something? Something important?
It was best not to ask.
They didn't wait long.
A figure burst into the tent.
As the figure entered, the scent of blood and sulfur clung to him.
He still carried the lingering scent of blood from the battle, clearly having just retreated from the front lines and still recovering.
Alka smiled at the newcomer; he was an acquaintance.
Unfazed by the dirt on his body, he embraced him.
"Grayfar, long time no see."
His expression remained serious as he looked at the middle-aged general before him. But after looking at Alka and the others... His serious expression forced a smile.
Of course, it's best not to smile.
"It's been a while, indeed. I've heard about your success, but I didn't expect you'd reach the front lines so soon.
Can't you rest a little longer before coming back?"
Greyfar said. He looked much the same now as before. His immense strength had left no trace on his face in just ten years, though he was indeed covered in stains.
The scent of blood, sulfur, and hot lava clung to his armor after drying.
He looked as if he had just emerged from a pile of demon corpses on the front lines.
Remember, someone like Greyfar used to fight only demons of their own level.
But now things were clearly different.
With powerful figures from around the world coming to support him, Greyfar had naturally fallen from the top tier to a slightly lower position.
Of course, they still belong to the top echelon of the strongest.
"I apologize, everyone, for appearing so dignified."
"No need. This is the front lines."
"I roughly understand your purpose, but you must understand that you are too powerful. We definitely can't arrange you together. We will assign you to different positions, just like before, except this time it might be busier."
Everyone nodded; of course they understood.
This wasn't their first time fighting demons on the front lines, let alone now when the situation was even more severe than before.
"That's good. Time waits for no one. Every moment counts. I'll arrange for you right away."