Chapter 641: Murder

At the same time, about three hours' sailing distance from the Divine Kingdom of Fate at the speed of a demigod dragon, the gods and armies of Asgard had gathered, including hundreds of warships and a force equivalent to six angelic legions, their momentum overwhelming and magnificent. They echoed the angelic legions of 'Ahura' not far away, preparing to attack the divine kingdom of the Lord of Fate with overwhelming force.

But at this moment, aboard the 'Bredablik-class cruiser' of the sun god Baldr, the atmosphere was chillingly cold and tense. All the temple guards were pale-faced, prostrating on the ground in extreme terror.

The Asgardian queen Frigg stared blankly at the throne, where a majestic, handsome young figure lay with blood on his chest, devoid of any life. She felt she could no longer breathe; the chill in her heart nearly froze her heart and lungs.

"What is this? Baldr? How is this possible?"

Lodur, the god of desire and temptation, arrived later, looking at the throne with utter astonishment. There, Odin and Frigg's beloved son, the sun god Baldr, had a purple wooden arrow lodged in his chest, his body completely and utterly devoid of life.

This also affected Baldr's worshippers, his guards, and his legions—warriors created from the souls of mortals combined with Baldr's divine power—who had lost the foundation of their existence.

Lodur's gaze then fell upon the long arrow, and his pupils contracted slightly: "A wooden arrow? Coated with mistletoe sap?"

In the ancient days of the Light World, the Norn 'Fate' goddesses had prophesied that their sun god 'Baldr' would die at the hands of someone very close to him, killed by a weak, harmless thing.

Thus, Queen Frigg was very anxious and had taken various precautions.

—She had reason to be anxious. In earlier times, the sun god 'Baldr', to prepare for the wars of the gods, had attempted to forge an 'Indestructible Divine Body' with Frigg's help.

Although they completed the magical ritual, various factors interfered, and it was not fully successful.

Baldr indeed gained an 'Indestructible Divine Body', immune to most attacks in the world. But like most similar spells, it was not perfect; his body retained an eternal, unknown flaw, until the Norns made their prophecy.

Lodur guessed it originated from some kind of tree, because afterward, Baldr removed all trees from his 'Bredablik-class cruiser'.

He had been curious for a time, but since it concerned Baldr's life, Lodur did not press further or deliberately inquire.

"My heavens—"

Following Lodur, 'Loki, the god of fire and deceit', was equally shocked: "Damn it, what happened here? There seems to be no sign of battle? I sense that Baldr's 'Light Source' has also been taken—"

"Do you have to be so hypocritical, Loki? Isn't this your doing?"

'Vali, the god of vengeance', standing behind Frigg, glared at Loki with murderous intent: "You surprise me, Loki. After killing my brother, you still dare to return here. Do you think our father will still protect you?"

Not only Vali, but all the Asgardian gods present were gathering their divine power, locking their cold intent onto 'Loki, the god of fire and deceit'.

"Give us an explanation! Loki! Now!"

This was from the blind god of darkness, Hodr, who was extremely indignant at his brother's death: "Otherwise, I will make sure you die here, I swear!"

"Why do you think I killed Baldr?"

Loki's expression and tone were full of innocence, mixed with sadness and anger: "But since Odin awakened until now, my main body has been on the克利塔斯克夫号 (Kritaskov?). Lodur and Frigg can both testify; we were planning the attack on the 'Divine Kingdom of Fate'. To reduce casualties in the coming war."

He then frowned: "Of course, I could move around with my divine incarnation. But you don't think my incarnation could kill a powerful light god, do you?"

Vali was also extremely astonished. He glanced at Frigg and Lodur, both frowning deeply without refutation, and knew Loki was telling the truth.

Yet this did not diminish his murderous intent: "But there are traces of illusion here. If not you, Loki, then who? Who knows what method you used?"

"Then summon the Norn goddesses; they can prove my innocence."

Loki replied calmly: "I am not the only one in this world who knows illusion, and there is deceit, isn't there? If you decide I am the murderer, you can kill me; I promise not to resist."

But the gods present looked at each other and fell silent. Even 'Vali, the god of vengeance', said nothing more.

Their father Odin, to weaken the enemy's power and avoid the world's backlash, had sworn brotherhood with 'Loki', the frost giant who was supposed to become the vessel of the world's will, agreeing to love each other and never raise blades against each other, unless one broke the oath by first shedding the other's blood or that of their descendants.

The cost of breaking the oath was also very heavy, so heavy that even Odin dared not break it lightly!

Otherwise, their All-Father would have found a way to kill the three siblings destined to bring about Ragnarok.

Even Queen Frigg, in her extreme rage and grief, could not stand by: "Enough, Vali! Loki was indeed with me earlier. The Norn sisters will arrive soon; they will tell us who killed Baldr."

They did not wait long. After just one minute, the three Norn goddesses—Urd, who governs the 'past'; Verdandi, who governs the 'present'; and Skuld, who governs the 'future'—arrived together.

They surrounded Baldr's body, gazing at it with divine eyes.

At that moment, another god arrived on the 'Bredablik-class cruiser'.

"In my divine kingdom, I sensed that Baldr, my father, seemed to have—no!"

It was Forseti, the god of truth, justice, and law. He looked at his father's body, his eyes filled with shock, confusion, disbelief, and despair.

"How could this happen? Baldr died in his own temple, which is equivalent to his divine kingdom. Are you all blind and deaf? You didn't even know Baldr was dead?"

Most of the Asgardian gods present had been dissatisfied with Forseti for avoiding battle thousands of years ago. But at this moment, none thought his reaction or accusation was wrong.

"I sense the power of a light god! The one who killed Baldr should be a powerful deity wielding 'light'. He came here through deception and illusion, then killed Baldr when he was off guard."

Skuld, the 'goddess of the future' among the Norns, drew everyone's attention.

Her face also held helplessness and confusion: "We cannot determine who it is. Someone has obscured the truth—a powerful force of fate, stronger than us, especially now that we have regained our divine bodies."

"A light god? And the intervention of the Lord of Fate? Are you sure, Skuld?"

Lodur frowned deeply, gazing into the distance toward the Divine Kingdom of Fate.

There are many gods who wield 'light', and among those with divine rank 18 or above, capable of killing Baldr, are the 'Lord of Radiance', who is contending with Gaia for the source; the former 'King of Angels', Uriel, known as 'Light of God'; and the sun god 'Apollo'.

Also, the former Lord of Radiance 'Ahura', who is allied with Odin against the Lord of Fate, and his angel 'Mithra'—

At this moment, the slightly wiser gods felt a chill, realizing that the situation they faced would not only be very bad but also complex.

However, Verdandi, the goddess of the present, lifted the spirits of Queen Frigg and the many gods grieving Baldr's death.

"But Lord Baldr still has a chance to be resurrected. At the moment of death, Baldr ensured that part of his soul escaped. And the underworld of America, with Hela's help, has merged with part of our Asgardian underworld 'Niflheim'—"

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"To be honest with you all, in terms of endurance, I should not lose to the 'Eternal Angel' Atlas. You must have noticed, right? I named this supreme technique 'Annihilation Source Furnace', and I am currently trying to incorporate the divine authority of 'Eternity' into it. So, even if you destroy my magic tower array, you will not see my magical power exhausted."

In the Land of Fate, Li Mochen continued to try to shake the battle will of the three god-kings before him with words, even if the effect was minimal.

Then he felt Odin's attack weaken significantly. Not only did he hold back at least thirty percent of his power, but he also stopped frequently using the authority of 'Wish'.

Thus, Li Mochen handled it even more easily. Ahura and Nyx, present, also had ways to directly attack him, but both were unwilling to use them, so the pressure they gave him was naturally small.

So Li Mochen's lips curled up uncontrollably. He knew his layout and planning had worked.

"Odin, your beloved son Baldr is dead, isn't he?"

Li Mochen said bluntly, and his words shocked Ahura and Nyx, leaving them stunned.

"This is very interesting. About three months ago, a god wielding light approached me to cooperate. He coveted the part of the Light Source in Baldr's hands and was eager to obtain it. But he also did not want to bear your wrath, Odin."

As he spoke, he glanced intentionally or unintentionally at the sun in the sky.

Even Nyx could not help but look sideways at Ahura, wondering if he was Li Mochen's collaborator.

This was most likely a smoke screen thrown by Li Mochen, with minimal possibility. But 'minimal possibility' is not completely impossible.

Like 'War' and 'Thunder', because the Light World has many ancient sun gods and light gods, the 'Light' Source born in this world is divided among these light-wielding deities, even more scattered than War and Thunder.

This has resulted in the world never having a Truth-level mythical artifact on the path of light. It is also why the Lord of Radiance, despite having most of the world's believers, has never been able to completely kick Gaia out of the source.

Thus, the competition among several light gods for the 'Light Source' is extremely fierce.

"Who?"

Odin stopped his hand, looking at Li Mochen with his one eye: "Tell me his divine name, or remove your power. Otherwise, I will first identify you as the murderer of Baldr."

"So what? As if the Aesir don't already consider me an enemy. We are already mortal enemies, aren't we? I promised that lord to keep his secret."

At this moment, Li Mochen's expression shifted: "Interesting. Hela tells me that the underworld governed by my wife has received an interesting guest. It should be part of Baldr's remnant soul. How should I treat him now?"

"Andre Li Wiltonstein!"

Odin clenched his fists, and violent thunder and source power erupted in all directions, causing the surrounding world to continuously collapse and reform.

But in the end, he did not attack again, even directly withdrawing from this 'Divine Land of Fate'.

"Remember, Lord of Fate! If my beloved son Baldr suffers any mistreatment in your or your wife's underworld, I will make you pay a heavy price, a very heavy price."

After he left, the sun suspended in the sky became even more dazzling and scorching. White-gold flames still filled the entire divine land. Except for the areas where Li Mochen's archons were suppressing, every part of the divine kingdom experienced temperatures above two million degrees.

At the center between him and Li Mochen, the temperature reached hundreds of millions.

With this extreme temperature and mass, Ahura distorted the surrounding space-time.

"Are you going all out, Ahura?"

Li Mochen appeared relaxed, but blood seeped from the corner of his mouth. He knew that the former Lord of Radiance was demonstrating through this method that he was not helpless against him but was holding back.

So the next moment, he felt the astonishing heat recede from before him, and Ahura's incarnation of the great sun completely disappeared from this divine land.

He guessed that Ahura would not risk a life-and-death struggle with him while facing the 'Longinus Holy Spear' alone.

Finally, the night goddess Nyx did not leave in a hurry. She gazed deeply at Li Mochen.

"It seems we all underestimated you. You started planning Baldr's death long ago, didn't you?"

"You think too ill of me, Nyx."

Li Mochen neither confirmed nor denied, smiling as he wiped the blood from his lips, his eyes showing battle intent: "Are you staying to fight me here? I can promise you that our battle will be fair. I will not use my authority in the divine kingdom, nor will I let my subordinates interfere."

If Nyx truly intended that, he would look forward to it.

During the half hour when Li Mochen fought Odin head-on, he felt his understanding of war, combat, and fighting techniques rise by more than one level.

It shows that practice surpasses deduction; this is the fastest way to grow—

"I have no such interest now."

Nyx snorted coldly, and then her figure, with a livid face, disappeared before Li Mochen.

She was indeed in a bad mood. Two hours ago, she never imagined that the joint attack of the three god-kings would end so anticlimactically.

"He really forced them back!"

Atop the 'Energy Conservation' magic tower, Jennifer Wiltonstein exclaimed with delight: "Truly Andre!"

Li Mochen's power and wisdom were fully displayed in this conflict.

"I think many people here will breathe a huge sigh of relief."

Robespierre also sighed with emotion: "Times are changing, Jennifer. The entire Light World will be different. I really need to consider becoming a god in this world now."

For him, divine positions like destruction, ruin, annihilation, explosion, and blast were all within easy reach.

Previously, he was unwilling to be burdened by laws and faith-based divine positions, fearing they would drag him into a pit, because he was not confident about the world's future.

If the world's future were controlled by the Lord of Radiance or other foreign gods, he would have to exhaust his mind just dealing with his wife, the 'Energy God', and would never let himself get involved.

But now the situation is different. Law gods and faith gods, despite their many flaws, are indeed a shortcut to Truth.

"I think we should indeed consider abandoning the plan to leave this world."

At this moment, beside 'Ansonwood, god of guns, shooting, and rapid fire', 'Field, god of travel, adventure, exploration, and mercenaries' said thoughtfully: "You're right, Ansonwood. We really need to invest more in that lord. What we've done so far is far from enough."

Although He was the god of adventure and travel, as a half-law, half-faith deity, if given a choice, who would want to leave this foundation?

"I never intended to leave! Without the bright world, we are nothing, Field! So I will stay in this world, this era, and exert all my strength."

Ansonwood's eyes gleamed with a strange light: "I thought I would eventually face death, but now the wings of the Lord of Fate have covered our heads. He has not only proven His power but also shown His mercy and trustworthiness. So Field, my good friend, I ask you to bring forth all your strength, so that we may have a more glorious future in this pantheon."

"It is only right!"

Field nodded slightly: "Not just me, but all the native gods of this world should do the same."

At this moment, in the gathering place of the gods, Green also clasped his hands together with infinite emotion and put away his summoned creature.

"He did it, Bismarck. And congratulations to you; from now on, you will be a true pantheon prime minister."

He could imagine what consequences the retreat of the three god-kings would bring. Li Mochen's prestige among the local gods and in the mortal world would henceforth be unmatched.

From now on, the resources of the entire world would converge toward Li Mochen.

"But the prerequisite is that you must wholeheartedly plan for him and serve him. He is undoubtedly a wise and intelligent king. It is impossible for him not to see through your intentions—"

"You speak truly."

Bismarck smiled bitterly and nodded: "I will do my utmost to let His Majesty's authority be manifested among the gods."

In fact, at this moment, Li Mochen had already felt the enhancement of his own authority. The moment Nyx left, his 'God-King' authority directly advanced to high rank, and this divine office instantly reached the level of divine rank thirteen.

Undoubtedly, the cohesion of his pantheon was now stronger than ever, and his control over it had a fairly solid foundation.

At this point, if Li Mochen wished, he could use this authority to create a punitive armament similar to the Chains of Heaven, specifically targeting the gods under his rule.