"However, the races within his location were either too limited, using them would ruin his original intention of allowing them to survive, or the majority were tainted, which wasn’t ideal due to the existence of his mother seed cells within them."
"That was when he turned his gaze to a place filled with an abundance of powerful life force, the Spirit Realm. But Spirit Beasts couldn’t be killed easily unless one possessed divine or primordial energy. And he couldn’t risk alerting the powerful beings among the Spirit Beasts."
"So, he began a new experiment, this time to create a Divine Apostle Crest that could consume and devour a Spirit Beast to increase its wielder’s strength and life force."
Orion’s eyes widened in shock. He was already aware that Naka was responsible for the creation of the Vylkr spawns and the Divine Apostle Crest. But he had no knowledge of the actual process.
Upon hearing how it had been created, and that Sylvalis and the nymphs had been a part of it, he couldn’t help but feel a wave of anger course through his body.
Still, he suppressed his emotions as she continued her explanation.
"He succeeded once more. However, he encountered problems when transferring the crest to the Vylkr spawns. The Vylkr energy was an issue even he couldn’t resolve. He decided to use the Omnithriallian bones that had been implanted into our bodies. And that was when he... he spared none of my sisters, including me."
"Before he left, he created a method for the villagers to constantly collect Primordial energy to trigger their gifts. I was the main ingredient for that tree... Sniff... sniff..."
As Sylvalis began to weep profusely, Orion pulled her closer and wrapped his arms around her to comfort her.
Sylvalis wrapped her arms around him, using his shoulder as a headrest to soothe her emotions.
A few minutes later, she recovered her composure.
"Thank you," Sylvalis said, attempting to bow.
But Orion swiftly caught her and held her up.
"You’re Grace’s friend, and I’ve already taken you as family. So you shouldn’t thank me for providing something as trivial as a shoulder to cry on," Orion said, his tone firm and expression serious, as though refusing any objection.
Sylvalis was momentarily stunned before her expression turned tearful again. She tried to suppress her emotions and nodded in response.
"I’m happy to have you as my father," Sylvalis said, with a small, tearful smile.
Orion returned her smile with a warmer one.
"Is there anything else you remembered?" he asked, wanting to wrap up the conversation.
"Yes. I remember one more thing," Sylvalis replied, her expression turning solemn. "He freed the Divine Apostles he had created, just like he had done with the others. Before he eliminated me to complete the tree, he had a visitor. They came to invite him somewhere. The invitee... the name mentioned was one of the nine greed gods."
Orion froze. He had never considered this possibility. While tracking HX-09’s to dig deeper into the Divine Corps and searching for Naka, they had done so separately. As such, he had never thought that after his betrayal, Naka might be working with the remaining greed gods.
Finally, he had uncovered information on the greed gods, who had remained silent until now.
"But... he rejected them. They came several times, and he rejected them each time. That was the reason he placed a seal on the dimension. But he kept muttering about where to go next, the Spirit Realm or the dimension the greed gods had built to hide themselves from us. That’s everything I knew before I lost consciousness."
Orion doubted that Naka would remain permanently in the Spirit Realm due to its restriction that halved the strength of beings from the material realm. Also, Naka’s experiments were far too dangerous.
Even the Transcendents would likely take action once they realised he was the one who had created the Vylkr spawns and the Divine Apostle Crest capable of consuming Spirit Beasts.
Knowing Naka, he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from experimenting on Spirit Beasts, which he considered perfect above all others.
So, it was doubtful that he had chosen to go to the Spirit Realm.
The only remaining option was that Naka had accepted the greed gods’ invitation.
Orion realised that the key to finding Naka was locating the entrance to the dimension where the greed gods had hidden themselves.
"That’s all I remembered, until now, when I recovered the rest of my memories after awakening," Sylvalis added.
"You can go and rest. I’ll handle the rest from here," Orion said.
Instantly, Grace, Anara, his wives, and high-ranking nymph officials appeared beside him.
Grace immediately jumped into Sylvalis’ arms.
Orion nodded at Anara and the others before vanishing from sight.
He reappeared above the metaphysical plane of the domain of the gods.
Surrounding them were the enormous roots of both the White Flame and the Material Realm’s Cosmic Tree, intertwined with each other.
Before him was a multitude of newly ascended divine beings within Paradise. They had all gathered to move into the White Flame Cosmic Tree.
Orion nodded at the Reynold, Oberon and the others, standing behind him, before stepping onto the top of the enlarged Mysteries of the Twelve Step Stairs, where his family stood, facing the multitude of divine beings ahead.
Orion spoke loudly, "Brothers, sisters, sons, and daughters of Paradise, today we stand before our inheritance..."
"This is not just a dimension we are about to enter, but one created by the will of my ancestor, Iyriath Zi’ria. Through her efforts and the rest of ours, the White Flame Cosmic Tree is now open for all.
"Previously, you were mortals; now, you are divines. You were scattered across the surface of the earth; now you rise under one banner. You were vulnerable; now you carry the burning flames of Paradise that cannot be extinguished."
"However, your divinity comes with a demand. Because power without purpose is destruction waiting for a reason."
"You have not ascended to escape your mortality, but to guard life... that is Paradise. Because you already know, the Material Realm is crumbling. The Vylkr vines twist through what remains. The Divine Corps eliminates anyone they disapprove of."
"So, as you enter and explore this dimension, remember that every choice you make will resound into eternity. They will be remembered not just by Paradise, but by those outside. Because soon, those in the Material Realm, the Vylkr Spawns, the Divine Corps, and the Spirit Realm will know..."
As Orion concluded his speech, a resonating cheer erupted from the crowds.
"SUPREME LEADER...!!"
"SUPREME LEADER...!!"
A ripple spread across the empty space around them from their collective shouts of emotion.
Orion raised his head upward.
A radiant light was slowly forming from beneath the bark of the tree.
This was their entrance into the White Flame Cosmic Tree.
Suddenly, Anara, Grace, Sylvalis, Dariya, Malaia, Saria, and Nadia appeared beside him.
Grace jumped into his arms and stared up at the widening portal with bright golden eyes.
"WOOWW!! It looks beautiful," Grace exclaimed, getting a glimpse of the world within through the portal.
"This is just the entrance. It’s going to be much better once we enter," Orion said.
Orion looked down at the Mysteries of the Twelve-Step Stairs below him, sensing its excitement.
Because the two cosmic trees were connected to each other, so were their Mysteries. They could both enter into each other’s domain. However, their influence would be minimal.
And due to Sylvalis’ existence, they were incapable of assessing their abilities as Mysteries unless granted permission by the other.
Nonetheless, Orion had never expected that he would sense an excited Mysteries squealing like a baby. He couldn’t help but chuckle lightly.
Orion received confirmation from Nazelita that they could finally begin to make their way through the portal.
"EVERYONE, FOLLOW ME!" Orion spoke loudly as the Mysteries of the Twelve Step Stairs carried them into the portal.
The highest-ranking officials of Paradise followed suit.
Then, the leading figures of each race and force followed after.
After that, the multitudes of divines poured from below into the portal, transforming into flashes of light in an orderly fashion.
Two weeks after Orion had ascended to true godhood, he had created a total of 11,920,004 true gods, 21,280,340 gods, and 8,300,000 demigods. With the addition of himself and his family, they now rivalled a cosmic structure, both in its form and its forces.
They ascended into a dimension created with the heavens as inspiration. A place known as the White Flame Cosmic Tree.
On this day, Paradise entered a new age.
Orion looked at the sights before him in amazement.
Above him stretched an infinite sky. He couldn’t sense the distinction of space between any of it. And layered from the bottom to the top, amidst the clouds, were floating continental islands, whose width or length he couldn’t fully measure.