Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“Dong!”
The bell rang on time at midnight. All the believers in St. Sarl City of the Kingdom of the Church of Light gathered at the base of the divine palace. All there left to do was pray.
The pope and some members of the church did not leave but chose to stay behind. “If Judgement Day is our inevitable fate, as the shepherds of god, it is our responsibility to guard the sheep. Leave the decisions to god!”
Everyone held onto the sigils of light, kneeling before the divine palace. Countless followers of god knelt on the endless stairs which seemed to connect to heaven. The silent prayers turned into the light of faith, shining above St. Sarl City.
At that moment, the distant Death Indicator Bitwall closed in on Maria’s World. The fierce elemental storms were the prologue, invading the bitwall of Maria’s World.
“Boom!” The invasion of elemental storms and the chaotic space burst into glaring lights, turning the sky from blue to a burning bright white.
“Hum…” Prolonged echoes followed the violent explosions, ringing in every ear.
Everyone in the square raised their heads, staring at the sky in absolute shock. Crowds trembled in fear and collapsed to the ground, losing the strength to even stand up.
“God! I beg your forgiveness for our sins!” whimpered a woman holding her child.
“Please forgive our debts, as we forgave others’ debts!” faithfully prayed a young priest with his eyes closed.
“Please save us from danger and suffering!” said an old man in fine clothes. His voice trembled as he prayed.
“Kingdom, power, and pride shall all be yours, for eternity.”
Every person in the world gazed at the sky in despair. Knowing that their final judgement had come, all the evil and the rebellious stopped, kneeling on the ground.
“Here it comes, finally, and we will all die!” shouted crowds in black robes with blood-red wheels painted on their backs as they rushed to the streets.
“The final judgement has befallen us. Let us wash away our sins in the fires of the death of the world! The new era shall come. Death is not the end, as we shall be reborn!”
Crowds consumed by fear and rumours walked onto the streets, shouting all kinds of slogans. Countless people gathered in the streets and prayed faithfully, wearing distorted smiles, horrifying and bizarre.
—
At the same time, all the gods looked past Maria’s World from the Star Kingdom and could now clearly see Rode’s Bitwall.
A transparent, silver, spherical bitwall with a long tail of enormous elemental storms was travelling in the direction of Maria’s World. In the gods’ eyes, the exact collision time could be easily calculated down to the second.
“Has he failed, the God of Space and Exploration?” asked Marina, the Goddess of Steam and Machinery.
“Of course, we cannot rely on him. It’s time to prepare the plan for the new era. This time, we shall reshape the world and create one of our own.” The voice of the Ruler of Storms echoed in gods’ kingdom.
“We still have some time!” said the new Goddess of the Dark Night. She stared at the approaching bitwall, believing that Rode would not fail so easily.
“I am rather fond of this world, if it’s alright,” said Edward, the God of Masters, as he looked down at the world below with affection, and at the Kelermo Kingdom he had built.
Above the Capital of Gods, three goddesses surrounded Lu Zhiyu, looking outside with concern. Through the shield, one could see a shining tail rushing toward a huge bright sphere in space. The sparks from friction were already burning bright even before the collision.
“Dad, it’s going to hit! Do something, it’s going to be late, too late!” said Delmedi. She swung Lu Zhiyu’s hand, staring at Maria’s World as if it was a toy of hers that was about to be destroyed.
Verthandi said with anger, “Are you truly going to destroy the world, Dad?”
Lu Zhiyu looked at Kelly and asked, “Do you also think so?”
Kelly answered, “I believe that you have already made your decision!”
At that moment, something changed in Rode’s Bitwall, which was now only miles away from Maria’s World. It was freed from the attraction of Maria’s World and changed course.
Lu Zhiyu smiled and said, “It has begun!”
All raised their heads and looked at Rode’s Bitwall and Maria’s World. As they moved closer to each other, the unusual change in Rode’s Bitwall became more and more obvious.
The orbit was corrected, moving away from the original orbit. Everyone knew it was the God of Space and Exploration assimilating the entire bitwall trying to avoid the collision with Maria’s World and prevent it from destroying both Rode’s Bitwall and Maria’s World.
“I did it! The orbit has been corrected! Just one last step!” said Rode.
The enormous bitwall moved away from its original orbit just before it was going to hit Maria’s World, brushing past Maria’s World like two passing trains.
Rode’s mythical body faded away, disappeared in Rode’s Bitwall. His divine power turned into light and dust, becoming one with the giant Half Bitwall.
Sacrificing a Level Seven Mythical Life to the Half Bitwall by force, Rode felt as if he was a glass of water which had been poured into a pond. He merged into the bitwall instantly, and his consciousness and memories faded and assimilated into it.
Rode felt that his consciousness had become one with the bitwall as he lost all senses. He felt like he had become an enormous being attracted by a blue world, moving towards it.
Rode felt his memories leaving him, leaving nothing but emptiness in his head. Suddenly, he remembered his task, and he said in his heart anxiously, “No! There’s no time left! I have spent too much time to be assimilated! There’s no time, I need to move fast!”
With his remaining consciousness, Rode controlled Rode’s Bitwall, forcing it to get off its orbit. He utilized the vision of Rode’s Bitwall and he saw he was closing in on the giant blue world. He used the last of his strength and finally made Rode’s Bitwall move past Maria’s World.
“Hurry! No, where am I? What am I doing? Who am I? Where am I?”
Rode could not even remember his own name. He turned around and saw Maria’s World again. It was wandering in the dark, boundless astral world like a huge gem, shining, beautiful, purifying all souls.
“Ah! I have succeeded! But there’s no chance left! I’ll die!”
Joy filled Rode’s soul and welled with a sense of relief. Rode gazed at Maria’s World as Rode’s Bitwall soared away, away from Maria’s World, and deep into the unknown, distant astral world.
At this moment, Lu Zhiyu reached out his hand, standing on the Capital of Gods. Immediately, Rode’s Bitwall started to orbit Maria’s World, like a moon spinning around Maria’s World, more and more slowly, but closer and closer.
It touched Maria’s World gently. Like two bubbles, they merged into one.
Rode’s Bitwall was caught and merged with Maria’s World, becoming one of its half bitwalls.
Lu Zhiyu took his teacup and sipped his tea. He looked at the three goddesses, shrugged, and said, “Alright. It’s over!”
Verthandi asked angrily, “Dad, why didn’t you interfere earlier?”
Lu Zhiyu shook his head and said, “My interference is meaningless. If I wished to enlarge Maria’s World, I did not need this Half Bitwall. If I wanted, I could create countless Half Bitwalls inside Maria’s World. What’s more important is the emergence of the God of Space and Exploration and taking the steps to explore the bitwalls of Maria’s World. This will be the foundation of their future exploration of the astral world. The creation of spacecraft, the emergence of the God of Space and Exploration, and the first steps of exploration are the most crucial! The elevation of a world depends on the lives and creatures living within it. Relying on me and me alone has no meaning at all!”
Delmedi sat down and said, “Then, it is within your expectation that such chaos occurs inside the world? What’s that for? To cleanse the world and make them more faithful?”
Lu Zhiyu shook his head and asked, “What do I need their faith for? Nothing! As I have said, there was no danger this time.”
He then opened his palms and said, “You did not trust your own dad. Instead, you terrorized all souls, and provided protection for your own believers, leading everyone to believe that the so-called Judgement Day was coming! If you had done nothing and ignored it, nothing would have happened! It was a simple World Perfection Plan to force the emergence of the God of Space and Exploration!”