AI Model: gemini-2.5-flash
Chapter 607 A Loop
The next day.
At the peak of the unnamed mountain range, from nothingness, Ryan had built a pavilion there.
Standing in front of the pavilion, the land thousands of miles away was unobstructed—this wasn't an exaggeration, because the land of Chaoswas not round after all.
How far one could see only depended on how far one was capable of seeing.
So, setting up an Alchemy long-barrerelled telescope that could ignore clouds and mist, Ryan prepared to watch the show.
Although strictly speaking, one side of this grand show consisted of his believers, and theoretically, he shouldn't have such an indifferent attitude.
But honestly, Ryan's heart was indeed calm at this moment, and he didn't even have any thoughts of worrying about those believers.
After all, if he truly cared about human faith, Silvermoon City wouldn't have been confined to the southeastern corner of the land all this time, but would have started conquering the continent long ago.
"Do you want to watch too?"
Adjusting the focus of the Alchemy long-barreled telescope, Ryan asked casually.
Although he didn't turn around, he could feel that a gaze was looking eagerly at this Alchemy creation.
However, after a moment of hesitation, Clotho, squatting with her arms around her knees beside the giant loom, shook her head decisively.
"...I don't want to."
"The Goddess of Fate will never use anything that does not conform to the order of fate!"
"They are born with original sin; this is the punishment fate has bestowed upon them!"
The white-dressed girl's tone was impassioned, and it was unknown where she had learned it from.
Ryan was more inclined to believe Atropos on this, because that old woman did seem like a Goddess of Fate who loved to shout, 'You are guilty'.
Although, in a sense, what she said did have some truth to it.
"You are right."
Nodding in agreement, Ryan acknowledged what Clotho said.
"Heaven and earth give birth to all things to nourish mankind, yet people still resent Heaven for its lack of benevolence."
"All things in heaven and earth are born because of the world; this is the cause. Being bound by fate to a predetermined end; this is the effect."
"People want to break free from the predetermined 'effect,' but are unable to change the equally predetermined 'cause.' This is indeed sin."
"It's just that the world cannot truly destroy all things within itself to punish their sins, so the Fate Goddesses have become the scapegoats."
"Therefore, the poison of fate has Entanglement around you… until one day, you can no longer bear this endless, intensifying sin, and then 'pop—' you turn into a handful of fireworks on the River of Fate."
Trembling, when that 'pop—' sound rang out, Clotho didn't want to speak anymore.
Although she now really wanted to ask, since you also agree with my idea, why don't you let me kill you, or you kill me first, to avoid future suffering.
But looking at this Great Wizard who had successively killed her two elder sisters, Clotho felt that she had already used up her few remaining bits of courage.
At this moment, the Goddess of Fate only felt how pitiful she was.
From birth, they had been scapegoats, and they had been scapegoats until now, with the three sisters taking turns...
Just as Clotho was immersed in the process of self-consumption, a bronze shadow fell from the sky and hit her head.
"Ouch—"
"What are you doing?"
"Don't you know? A god can be killed, but not humiliated!"
Clutching her forehead, with her other hand holding the bronze long mirror that had fallen to the ground, Clotho looked angrily at Ryan's back.
"Oh, I apologize, I indeed haven't heard that saying."
Apologizing without sincerity, Ryan casually pointed to the shelf beside him, indicating that the other party could place another telescope there for use.
"However, now this 'creation that does not belong to the current fate' has become a weapon that harms the Goddess of Fate. Even for the sake of knowing yourself and your enemy, you can certainly try this thing from a critical perspective."
"After all, the God-King is about to make a move, and with the immense power of Great Divine Power, even a slight brush against the flowers and plants will be another heavy hammer of fate."
Speaking faintly, Ryan suggested:
"To see how one is hammered before being hammered… this should make sense, right?"
"…"
With her arms around her knees, Clotho missed her two elder sisters.
If they were here, they would never sit idly by while this Great Wizardacted recklessly.
...
On the unnamed mountain peak, time passed minute by minute.
The sun rose and set, golden light scattered across the mountains.
Ryan busied himself with the long mirror, tea, and books, while the Goddess of Fate stared blankly at everything.
Until another dawn arrived, and in the distance of the land, towering killing intent and battle spirit began to gather.
The large drums made from the hides of ancient beasts and demons rumbled, making Clotho's eardrums ache slightly.
This was not caused by physical sound, but by the sound resounding in fate… The ominous premonition had arrived; that land would be drenched in blood.
Those who shouldn't live might survive, and those who shouldn't die might die there.
At this moment, Clotho felt that Ryan's words also made some sense; perhaps facing Death, though a bit cruel, was better than waiting for Death.
"Hey—"
Feeling her heart pounding violently, the courage that had been exhausted seemed to have recovered a little under the coercion of fear.
Holding the spindle that had grown enormous at some point, the Goddess of Fate couldn't help but ask Ryan again:
"Hey!"
"Hmm?" Ryan turned around, giving her a puzzled look.
"I mean, Great Wizard who destroys the fate of the world, can you truly not kill me?"
Biting her lip slightly, Clotho asked loudly.
"You are so keen on destroying fate, and I am also a part of fate, right?"
"If you can kill me, this should also be a good thing… even though I don't understand why you want to destroy fate, nor why you refuse to kill me."
"But as someone who destroys fate, have you truly never felt any guilt or regret?"
"In this world, countless beings who shouldn't have died have died because of you, and countless existences who should have been abandoned by time have survived because of you… I don't understand, what's so bad about fate? Why do you oppose her?"
"She is clearly the will of the world, the rule from which all things begin. If all of you followed her, then—"
—If we all followed her, then this world would from this moment on, uncontrollably head towards its destined demise."
His voice faint, Ryan shook his head slightly, then refocused his attention on the distant battlefield.
"Hmm… actually, regarding your question, there's a perfect example that can answer you."
"You see, the God-King is the ruler chosen by the present world, yet what successive God-Kings most diligently pursue is to resist fate; above the earth, all living beings pursue glimpses into the future, but when they truly obtain Prophecy, not a single one has ever felt satisfied by it."
"It's not just me; all living beings in this world who can come into contact with fate, none don't want to understand her; and all who have understood her, none don't want to change her."
"Even if it means conforming to the prayers of all sentient beings in the world, fate should not continue to exist like this—however, from this perspective, Clotho, this might also be why you are not like your sisters."
"Ah?"
Puzzled, Clotho merely hugged her spindle.
"Is it that hard to understand?"
Speaking with a smile, Ryan's tone was profound.
"You see, the God-Kings resist fate, but they never resist their own fate of becoming God-Kings; the common people are unwilling to be satisfied, but they also do not resist the favors they have already received."
"Whether it's me, or the gods, or all living beings in this world, what we have always detested is not fate itself, but 'predetermined' fate, 'fate predetermined by others'."
"So the god who cut fate 'died,' died because she wanted to cut the fate of others; the god who measured fate also 'died,' died because she wanted to control the Life of others. Only you, Clotho, only you…"
"Only you, the god who weaves fate, you don't want to change anyone, so no one will come to change you either."
"So stay with me and watch this grand show… Clotho, your future does not belong to me."
"But when today ends, I will take you to the god you should belong to."
As Ryan himself had said, only fate itself could ever harm fate.
He could imprison Atropos, and Hermes could imprison Lachesis, but in this world, as long as Clotho did nothing, no one could do anything to her.
And coincidentally, when God and Divinity influenced each other, Clotho's nature was to do nothing at all.
She would only write down the inherent fate, and then her two elder sisters would cut out the correct 'script'.
In a sense, perhaps among the three Fate Goddesses, Clotho was the closest to the pillar of fate itself, rather than merely a so-called god acting on behalf of the current fate.
...
Thousands of miles away, on the city wall of Candernia.
Unlike the relaxed atmosphere on the unnamed mountain peak, an invisible aura of solemnity gathered around.
Loose yet orderly military formations gathered and arrayed under command, the armor covered in secret patterns reflecting no light under the sun.
The Wizards who had been in secret talks just days before stood on the city wall, watching this scene, and in a more distant place, vast and magnificent towering blood qi and battle intent surged into the sky—that was the army led by the God of War.
When people number in the thousands, they connect heaven and earth; when people number in the tens of thousands, they are boundless.
However, on the opposite bank of the great river, hundreds of thousands of soldiers, surrounded by even more laborers and auxiliary troops, advanced slowly.
The front and rear formations were dozens of miles apart, spreading out to the upstream and downstream of the river channel.
In the middle of the military formation, the knight order personally led by Ares, the God of War, seemed to be empowered by the entire army.
Under the invisible Authority of War, this hastily assembled coalition army astonishingly resembled a battle-hardened force, exuding a chilling aura.
Her expression grave, the white-haired old woman had to admit that she had somewhat underestimated the armies of these nations before.
Or more precisely, she had underestimated Ares, who truly commanded the army.
Perhaps the God of War himself was not a very excellent god, but this did not mean that the Divinity of War was not strong.
In fact, if the god possessing this Divinity were Zeus, he would probably have already played it to its fullest potential.
"Not easy to handle… I really didn't expect that when the God of Wartakes command in the center, his Divinity directly links the entire army together."
"Command as if moving an arm is secondary; what's important is the qualitative improvement… This way, many large-scale destructive Warweapons are useless."
Speaking in a low voice, beside the white-haired old woman, another Great Wizard recounted his findings.
Only after witnessing it with his own eyes did he suddenly realize.
When the Divinity of War was applied in such large-scale War, it actually possessed such powerful might.
Strictly speaking, Ares's existence did not directly increase the total strength of this million-strong coalition army—perhaps he did increase it, but that wasn't the crucial point.
His true role was a core of sublimation and unification… simply put, it was 'tier advancement'.
The strength of the blood essence of a hundred ordinary soldiers is certainly quantitatively stronger than that of a first-tier combatant.
But even if ten thousand ordinary soldiers stood together, there would be no change in the quality of their Life energy.
It's like ten thousand bronze swords placed together are just a bundle of bronze swords, a stack of bronze swords, a mountain of bronze, it cannot turn into even a single piece of iron.
So in this situation, the Wizards' large-scale War weapons were like the Church's instant Death spells.
That powerful divine art derived from the Authority of Death could directly erase the essence of Life below a certain 'kill line,' no matter how much 'quantity' it had accumulated, and War weapons were similar.
Their damage to strong individuals might be negligible, but for ordinary soldiers whose own strength was below a certain level, they were like mowing grass in a hack-and-slash game, killing large numbers at once.
Before the War began, the Wizards had also planned it this way.
But now before them, the Divine Authority of War had changed all of this.
If an ordinary soldier is considered a bronze rapier, and a first-tier soldier is considered a fine iron broadsword, the latter is superior to the former in terms of material and quality, which is a dual strength of 'quality' and 'quantity'.
And the principle of the Wizards' War weapons was to target the 'bronze' material; no matter if you were a rapier or a large bronze shield, as long as you were still bronze, you would die instantly upon contact.
However, the Divine Authority of War changed precisely this… He did not increase the 'material' of these 'weapons', but he modified their composition, causing them to improve as the overall scale of the army increased.
When the army reached thousands, the bronze rapier became a crude iron rapier.
When the army reached tens of thousands, the crude iron rapier became a fine iron rapier.
When the army reached a million, these were a million fine steel rapiers, enhancing their quality by more than just a notch.
Looking at everything in the distance, the white-haired old woman once again sighed at the Authority of the gods.
This was the power to change rules… When such an amplification was combined with the military formation, Ares should have been victorious in every battle, so how did he lose so many times?
"Hmm?"
"That's indeed the case… Since the Authority of War is clearly so powerful, how did he lose before?"
A glint flashed in the white-haired old woman's eyes, and she sneered.
I almost forgot, you can't blame the road for being uneven if the person is incompetent.
Some people, even with a good hand of cards, can play them into a terrible situation.
"Everyone… I think I've found a solution."
Speaking faintly, the white-haired old woman looked at Ares, who was stationed in the center of the army.
Yes, since the God of War is so strong, how did he lose before?
Well, that was because he didn't act as a proper God of War, but insisted on charging into battle like a warrior, and ended up losing anyway, which is why he often suffered defeats.
This is as absurd as a Wizard not using Wizardry but daily fighting with a sword.
However, since such an absurd person was their enemy, the white-haired old woman could only nod and then bless him not to regret it, and to continue in this manner.