Chapter 594: The Reason

In Pittsburgh, the second-largest city in Pennsylvania, it had now been completely reduced to ruins. Only the Carnegie Building still stood firm, towering amidst the collapsed structures.

The Primordial Dragon Lich Alduin and the giant feathered serpent rolled violently through the city, colliding, tearing, and biting at each other. Every swing of their massive bodies, every impact, brought immense disaster to the city. The devastating shockwaves and the vast primordial power had long since shredded the city's magic tower array, leaving all buildings without protection or shelter. Both behemoths were now covered in wounds.

The giant feathered serpent held a clear advantage in melee combat. After all, it was a phantom serpent forged from the remains of a former quasi-god king. Kukulkan's ancient divine rank, though not reaching the level of a major god, was undoubtedly among the top-tier of powerful gods, surpassing Alduin.

Only the Primordial Dragon Lich's breath was terrifyingly lethal. Each blast of black flame, imbued with the high-level divine authority of destruction, burned horrific holes into the giant feathered serpent's body.

However, Alduin's opponents were far more than just that giant feathered serpent. Angela and Michelle's father, the two phantom dragons, were constantly harassing Alduin, clawing, biting, slapping, and ramming him!

In this battle, ordinary magic was useless. Their most trusted and powerful weapons remained their primordial power, their claws and fangs, and their dragon breath.

Even Michelle Medici did not attempt to cast any spells or illusions, instead relying on the formidable primordial power gained through phantom manifestation, fighting as a magic swordsman.

But at this moment, both Michelle and Angela had sweat beading on their foreheads. This fiercely intense battle had nearly drained their magical power.

Fortunately, the blood armor on Alduin's body, used to resist the 'Fated Calamity,' had also been exhausted. The 'Lightning,' blessed by the gods, had blasted one huge wound after another into the dragon, causing large amounts of black blood to spill out.

At the same time, above and below Pittsburgh, more than a dozen different powerful consciousnesses had gathered. Some watched from afar, while others descended directly as avatars. Their gazes flickered uncertainly, and their divine powers intermingled and clashed in this space, directly causing the distortion of this realm and generating immense pollution.

The plants in Pittsburgh mutated, and all remaining living beings gradually deformed from their original forms.

—This situation was similar to the Astral Plane, where the existence of gods, like stars, scattered the laws they controlled, causing distortion of the world and fragmentation of laws.

Ordinary beings had almost no resistance against such celestial changes.

"So Atlanta is no longer a threat, is it, Your Highness Wieldenstein?"

In a corner of Pittsburgh, inside the already dilapidated building that housed the Machine Overlord and the Magic Goddess, Mephisto once again doffed his hat to the youth beside him.

This was because the power within the latter was rapidly increasing. It had been very weak before, but in just an instant, the divine radiance emanating from this person could rival that of the Magic Goddess.

This indicated that Li Mochen had shifted his main focus here.

Even the Magic Goddess Diana narrowed her eyes slightly, then bowed slightly with a smile in her gaze: "Congratulations, Your Highness Wieldenstein! I can feel that all beings in this world are rejoicing at your arrival. No one in this world can shake your authority!"

Ordinary deities were not worth such treatment from her. But a 'Powerful God' wielding the four authorities of 'Fate,' 'Time,' 'War,' and 'Equality' was already more than her equal.

She had been monitoring the situation in Atlanta, so she was fully aware of Li Mochen's current state.

The Lord of Radiance had never truly descended; the Gate of Heaven remained tightly shut, and Li Mochen was growing stronger.

"I want to know, what exactly is the situation now?"

Li Mochen looked at Mephisto. One of the reasons he had brought his main consciousness here was to seek answers from him.

"You should know the truth, shouldn't you, Mr. Mephisto?"

"I have some idea."

Mephisto had changed his appearance. Previously he looked old and decrepit, but now he appeared as a gentleman wearing a top hat, a tailcoat, and holding a walking cane, like a Victorian-era gentleman.

"My personal guess is that something certain people did has been exposed. They had high hopes, but Your Highness Wieldenstein's rise forced the Lord of Radiance to descend early. That is really not good news for them."

Li Mochen's eyes flickered: "Would you mind explaining in detail, Mr. Mephisto?"

Anthony, who had partially removed his armor, also showed curiosity. It seemed that some变故 within the Church of Light had facilitated Li Mochen's smooth path to godhood.

"Of course!"

Mephisto curled his lips slightly: "You should know the state of the Lord of Radiance before, right? Because He had to attend to multiple worlds, the main will of the Lord of Radiance has rarely stayed in this world since the Middle Ages. The divine body He placed in this world's Heaven was merely an avatar of His, and it rarely awakened. How to put it? In most states, it was just a relay connected to the Lord of Radiance, also known as a wish-granting machine. It handled the granting of divine spells to all angels and clergy of the Radiant Church. That is why the Church of Light split."

At this point, Li Mochen showed surprise. He had roughly guessed what might have happened to his enemy.

"But now, that relay has malfunctioned."

Mephisto's tone seemed somewhat gloating: "I don't know the specifics. Someone might be trying to make the Lord of Radiance's avatar awaken its own will, or someone might be trying to steal power from that relay. Their audacity is astonishing, and the will of this world is clearly indulging them."

"Then who do you think it is?"

The Magic Goddess Diana had already grasped the internal situation of the Radiant Church the moment Li Mochen became the 'God of Equality,' but she was also curious about the answer.

"I know you've had contact with several Archangels over these centuries."

She thought this might be the handiwork of several kings of Hell and the Abyss, similar to the reason for Lucifer's rebellion back then.

"Wow, that's a serious accusation, Your Highness Diana."

Mephisto shook his head: "I have had contact with them, but most of the time I was expelled, destroyed, suppressed, or killed. As for the current situation, who knows? It's unlikely to be Gabriel; that woman has been too brainwashed by the Lord of Radiance's doctrine. As for the other six Archangels, any of them could be responsible. Who doesn't have ambition? Before becoming Archangels, they were all powerful gods ruling over their own domains. In short, the Lord of Radiance probably has no mind to bother with you now. Compared to the possibility that your path in 'Fate' might obstruct or even sever His, He cannot afford to lose His divine throne in this world. Believe me, that is a price He cannot bear. As far as I know, even this being close to an Overgod has only successfully spread His name in twelve worlds. And a world like this Radiant World, capable of elevating Him to the rank of God King through faith and primordial power, is the only one."

He then pointed outside at the gods who had descended: "Do you know why those outer gods chose to return at this time? It's not only because new things and concepts in this world will generate new powerful gods, but also because they foresaw that the Lord of Radiance might lose His authority in this world."

Li Mochen fell into deep thought, feeling he might have been tricked: "Mr. Mephisto, I suspect you foresaw this from the beginning, didn't you?"

So the reason this one appeared in Pittsburgh was actually a bluff. If the Lord of Radiance was destined not to descend, then there was no need for them to concede at all.

"Foresee? Who can guarantee a hundred percent something that hasn't happened yet?"

Mephisto said in a casual tone, while clasping his hands together and absorbing the blue crystal given by Diana into his body.

"I must thank Your Highness the Goddess for this gift! At least it ensures I won't lose everything—"

At the same time, behind them, 'Yarad,' who had been unable to move under the pressure of several deities, had his entire body and soul crushed into dust by a powerful force.

"Wow, after being used, he ends up like this."

Tomson Beaulieu, the Enemy of Death, looked sympathetic: "Poor Yarad!"

Mephisto paid no attention. His figure simultaneously turned into black ash and gradually dissipated.

"I sense hostile auras, so I'll take my leave now. Feel free to visit the Abyss sometime, especially the new Lord of Fate and God of Equality. I will give you the highest level of reception. Good luck to you—"

Li Mochen's eyes flickered as he watched Mephisto leave, but in the end, he did not act. He could only turn to the Magic Goddess with a bitter smile and apologize: "I'm sorry, Your Highness Diana. This is my fault."

"No need for that!"

Diana chuckled softly, seemingly unbothered: "I am actually very glad to have reached a settlement with the Lord of Deception. If Mephisto had insisted on opposing me and preventing the construction of the magic net, it would have been a thorn in my side. His abilities could have doubled my difficulties. And the reason he was willing to compromise was due to the deterrence of Your Highness Wieldenstein. Besides, you paid a price too, didn't you?"

Li Mochen could see that she truly did not care about the 'Curse' divine authority, so he nodded slightly and stopped dwelling on it.

Although it was an intermediate divine authority, as Diana said, he had not paid nothing.

So the real loss was his own.

"Your Highness the Goddess, if my information is correct, this Lord of Deception also originates from the outer realms, right?"

The one who asked this was Anthony Braden: "I want to know, how do you view His existence?"

Diana nodded slightly and explained in an unusual tone: "Mephisto indeed originates from the outer realms, but in the divine war that may break out in the next ten years, we cannot simply divide camps into native and outer. The Lord of Radiance is an外来 powerful god, but would He allow other外来 beings to wreak havoc in this world? Obviously not. And Mephisto's situation is also special."

She paused here for a moment, as if organizing her words: "In the Astral Plane, there exist at least a thousand Mephistos."

"A thousand Mephistos?" Tomson Beaulieu looked incredulous: "Are you sure, Magic Goddess? Is He more powerful than the Lord of Radiance?"

"Of course I'm sure! During my travels in the outer realms, I have seen at least seven Mephistos, each a different individual."

Diana did not take Tomson's disrespect to heart: "A thousand Mephistos have a thousand different wills. This seems to be Mephisto's unique way of existence. Except for adhering to certain core essences and maintaining uniqueness, all Mephistos are deeply integrated with each world, truly融入. So to some extent, He should be counted as a native god. Correspondingly, His power is very分散, making it difficult for Him to gather strong power as easily as other gods."

Li Mochen raised an eyebrow. He was curious about how the Lord of Deception managed this and what His current state was.

"But if you give Him too much trust because of this, it will only lead to disaster. Mephisto does not care what changes happen to this world, even if it becomes a barren desert or is destroyed entirely. After all, there are a thousand Mephistos."

"The future situation will be very complex; the positions of friend and foe may change at any time. Anthony, we naturally want to weaken the Lord of Radiance's power to give us more breathing room. But do you want Zeus to reclaim His former position as God King in this world?"

"Can you wrap up your chat?"

Just then, Diana's voice was interrupted again. The void before them was torn open, and Delfinia stepped out from the Astral Plane.

"Look at your girlfriend, Your Highness Wieldenstein, my liege. She seems to have reached her limit! And Angela's father doesn't look too good either."

Li Mochen followed Delfinia's gaze and saw a somber look appear in his eyes.

He had been keeping an eye on Angela's condition.

At this moment, the radiance of the 'Phantom Fortress' magic tower had dimmed to the point of being barely visible. Angela's aura and divine power were nearly exhausted, and the No. 3 'Five Elements' external elixir he had personally refined had long since run dry.