Chapter 652: The Promise

"The tremors are growing more intense—"

While Lucifer and Li Mochen were conversing, in the underworld of America, Angela looked helplessly at the scene before her.

Since a day ago, the entire world had been trembling slightly, and the amplitude of the tremors was growing stronger, to the point where even ordinary people could accurately perceive them.

Many would mistake it for an earthquake, but it was not. In Angela's eyes, it was a disturbance originating from the world's source core, then spreading to the material plane.

The forceful tugging of Gaia by several god-kings within the source core was gradually destabilizing all the rules that constituted this world.

What appeared before Angela's eyes was the dense web of laws that wove together the main material plane, shaking and tearing under immense force.

It could only be said that the connection between Gaia and the Source had indeed become so close as to be indistinguishable, the two nearly merging into one.

"I don't think this will end anytime soon."

Seated in Angela's temple was Hela, who, as a member of the Fate Pantheon, was subordinate to Angela as her vassal, not to Li Mochen.

"The number of their Source Thorns is not increasing but decreasing. At this rate, I believe their battle will not conclude within three to five days, and it will inevitably affect the mortal world."

This was because Prometheus, along with the Hecatoncheires and Cyclopes, were continuously attacking the churches of the Light Church and the gods in the mortal world.

The Weave of the Goddess of Magic was also persistently interfering with the magical arrays the gods had deployed worldwide.

"But it seems His preparations are still insufficient."

Angela sighed and tapped the armrest: "As A Mo predicted again. In any case, we must do our best. We must exert our power to protect this world from suffering heavy casualties due to their conflict."

Just a moment ago, she had issued a divine decree to her church, instructing all her followers to take refuge in her churches as much as possible.

At this time, merely rallying the gods of Fate and using the arrays Li Mochen had pre-set in the major Fate churches to stabilize the temporary fragmentation and loss of laws in this world was clearly insufficient.

Only within her churches could Angela ensure the safety of her followers.

"This is the only thing about you, Queen of Heaven, that displeases me. Both you and His Majesty are too merciful. Remember, appropriate disasters help consolidate faith."

Hela looked at her helplessly: "This will consume a vast amount of your divine power, leaving you unable to sustain yourselves in the coming war."

Angela smiled but did not respond.

Li Mochen had long foreseen this day, so he had urged her to fully study and master the medium-level 'Eternity' and 'Infinity'. Yet such a level of divine authority could only be considered a slight supplement in the battles that might follow.

However, both she and Li Mochen were ultimately from humanity and derived their faith from humans—how could they turn a blind eye to such a disaster?

Moreover, Li Mochen's choice to do so seemed to have other intentions—

"I can assist Your Majesty, the Queen of Heaven, by expending the faith power I have gained."

This was Ereshkigal, also a vassal, whose face showed slight displeasure: "But I will do no more! Correspondingly, if after Gaia is expelled, someone attacks this underworld, my husband and I will only defend my territory."

"That is enough, Lady Ereshkigal."

Angela knew this goddess's character was very selfish, so she was not surprised. She had not expected this couple to be able to help her in the coming battle.

Then she once again 'gazed' at the world's source core, observing the war among the god-kings.

"I believe this situation will not last long; it cannot remain deadlocked forever."

※※※※

A change occurred two hours later, when a certain god from the outer realms cast an object into the world's Source. Then the entire source core exploded, causing drastic changes throughout the world. Not only was the web of laws torn apart, but all regions of the world—whether the dark world, the light world, the outer realms, or the abyss—expanded. It felt like the beating of a human heart, lasting only an instant, yet it caused massive ruptures in every corner of the world.

Li Mochen, at the lowest depths of the abyss, witnessed a vast amount of lightning and flame erupt from the void without warning, devouring the lives of countless low-level demons around him.

Within the main material plane, the situation was slightly better, but in derivative worlds like the abyss, hell, or star domains, or in outer planes where the web of laws was less dense, the consequences were severe.

Even in the main material plane, disasters were frequent. Li Mochen's avatar, stationed in his divine kingdom, could barely keep the churches of the Fate Church under control.

At this moment, stabilizing the web of laws in the main material plane was difficult enough; merely protecting the lives of those who had taken refuge in his churches was no easy task.

"It's a small world's source core laced with 'poison'."

Lucifer looked toward the outer realms, but he could no longer find any trace of that outer realm god.

"A ruthless move. Whose handiwork do you think this is?"

Li Mochen forced himself to divert his attention: "It could be anyone, including you and me."

The method used by these god-kings could be seen as giving an abortifacient to a pregnant woman, or as inducing vomiting in the world's source core.

The effect was immediate. Gaia, who had been entrenched in the world's source core and indistinguishable from the Source, was forcibly pulled half of her body out by the Source Thorns.

However, they were likely still wary of being rejected by the world's will, so they could only use an outer realm god to do this.

The so-called 'World Will' is what the East calls 'Heaven's Will,' but it is confined to this world and cannot discern their causal entanglements in the outer realms.

"Your divine power consumption is enormous."

Lucifer looked at Li Mochen with strange eyes: "And you still want to compete for the position of God over Gods?"

He was puzzled. While all the god-kings were conserving their strength and waiting for the right moment, Li Mochen was wasting his precious divine power on such futile matters.

"I have my reasons for doing this."

Li Mochen would not mention that the multicolored spiritual light on his 'Divine Sky Spiritual Fortune Purple Gold Pagoda' was increasing rapidly. Now, it was only two-fifths short of the 810 million strands of merit energy.

What comforted him additionally was that a large amount of faith power was now flowing into him. Although it was a drop in the bucket compared to his current consumption, it was ten times the usual amount.

It seemed the people of this world, his followers, knew gratitude and were willing to repay.

"As for you, it's time you gave me an answer, Lord Lucifer."

Li Mochen had stayed here so long precisely to obtain a promise from the Lord of Hell.

"But no matter how I look at it, your chances of victory are not high."

Lucifer thought carefully, then asked: "If you become God over Gods, what can you give me?"

"Everything in hell remains as it is. I can establish a relationship between us similar to that between the Lord of Light and Satan. This world cannot exclude the dark side and evil, just as light cannot completely dispel darkness, and in the night, there are still stars and flames."

Li Mochen spoke calmly: "I cannot give you anything, only a promise. In the future, when you have the opportunity to become God over Gods outside the light world, I will lend you my aid."

"That promise is enough."

Lucifer shook his head dismissively: "Go. If Gaia ultimately fails, then I will do everything in my power to help you. Although I still think your chances of victory are almost zero."

Li Mochen's spirits lifted slightly, and without further delay, he took a step and strode out of the abyss's lowest depths.

He could no longer stay here; his divine kingdom required his true body to preside over it. Otherwise, at least ten percent of the Fate Church's churches would collapse within a day.

Beyond that, he also needed to extend a helping hand to the other gods in his pantheon.

The moment he returned to the Magic Tower of Fate's Homeland, Li Mochen looked at the 'Thebes Sacred Shield' that he had long since sent here.

At that moment, drops of cyan-green liquid were continuously falling onto the 'Thebes Sacred Shield'.

Li Mochen's method of purifying this mythical artifact was not to refine and purify it with external force, but to stimulate the power of the 'Thebes Sacred Shield' itself, allowing it to spontaneously expel the evil karma force that had seeped inside.

So far, Li Mochen had dripped three gallons of 'Avalon Life Spring Water' and five gallons of 'Amphitrite's Tears' onto the shield, along with seventy drops of the even more precious 'Blood of the Earth'.

These divine substances, mixed with powerful life force and earth power, were gradually stimulating the life and earth power of the 'Thebes Sacred Shield' to its peak.

Although the evil karma force could not yet be completely removed, it had reached a point where it could be used without fear of contamination.

Li Mochen did not hesitate to activate this mythical artifact, covering his churches in the mortal world and his divine land with 'Life', 'Defense', and 'Earth'.

At this moment, the war between Gaia and Odin and the others had already extended from the Source to beyond the Source.

The former had manifested her true form in the main material plane, while Odin, Nyx, the Lord of Light, and others followed suit, descending their divine bodies into the mortal world one after another.

The combined power of those six god-kings nearly shattered the heavens and earth around Gaia, and the terrifying destructive force was still spreading upstream and downstream through time and space.

But Gaia was by no means without support. Just as Gaia was forced out of the Source, Zeus and Rhea appeared simultaneously, bearing nearly forty percent of the six god-kings' attacks for the Mother of the Source.

Rhea's appearance surprised Li Mochen slightly. After all, this ancient Earth Mother Goddess had disappeared from this world since the era of the Roman Empire's rise in 600 BC, never to appear again.

At that time, this Earth Mother Goddess was merely a major deity with a divine rank of seventeen.

But when she reappeared in the light world, she had become a powerful god-king whose strength surpassed even Nyx.

With Zeus holding back, Rhea almost single-handedly faced Nyx and her daughter, holding her own even when outnumbered two to one.

The war among these god-kings grew increasingly fierce. Hades, the King of the Underworld, and Poseidon, the Sea God, appeared one after another, joining forces with Prometheus, Diana, and the giants to fight against Thor, Michael, and other powerful gods and angels of the Aesir Pantheon and the Radiant Heavenly Kingdom. The fierce clashes among dozens of major deities caused the earth to sink, the seas to overturn, giant cyclones covering an area of thirty thousand kilometers, and endless lightning and thunder filling every airspace.

The Weave of the Goddess of Magic, Diana, spread across the entire world, could no longer suppress the shockwaves and disturbances caused by the clashes of these god-kings. The immense impact, though less than the collision of two worlds earlier, was more sustained. Especially when the Goddess of Magic herself had to join the battle, it became even harder to maintain.

The only thing to be thankful for was that a few of these god-kings still exercised restraint. The full-scale battlefield was not on any continent of the light world, but above the endless ocean of the dark world.

Yet even so, the aftershocks transmitted from that tightly adjoining world still caused frequent earthquakes and successive tsunamis in the light world.

Especially the pulling within the Source, which further tore the web of laws in the main material plane.

The near stalemate between the two sides made Li Mochen secretly pleased, yet also deeply worried.

At this moment, something happened that astonished Li Mochen and completely caught him off guard.

An avatar of Diana directly appeared inside his divine kingdom, on the twenty-eighth floor of the Magic Tower of Fate's Homeland.

As a close ally, even a half-member of the Fate Pantheon, Diana had the right to enter and exit this place.

"My Lady, what is this?"

Upon meeting, Li Mochen was truly shocked: "You want to cede control of the Weave to me? Are you serious?"

In fact, control of the Weave had already been transferred to him. Diana had not asked for any conditions or made him swear an oath; she had simply handed over control of the Weave to Li Mochen.

"At this moment, you are the only one I can trust, Your Majesty."

Diana's avatar smiled bitterly: "Among my friends, only you, Your Majesty, possess the ultimate divine authority of magic and arcane power."

This was true; Li Mochen had not spent much time on this. However, as someone who mastered thirteen types of forbidden spells and most of the world's magic, and who had built his magic tower to an unprecedented thirty-six floors, he had naturally come to possess these two powerful authorities.

This was also a precaution—if in the future this Goddess of Magic ultimately had no fate with the Fate Pantheon, then the future gods of Fate would not be at a disadvantage in this regard.

"I have a responsibility to this world and to the humans of this world. But now, I cannot fulfill my duty."

Diana bowed deeply: "And now, the only one with sufficient ability and willingness to help me fulfill this duty is you, Your Majesty."