Ascending the steps, Richard quickly arrived at the Gods’ Dimension.
This was his first time coming to the Gods’ Dimension.
The Gods’ Dimension is a fantastical world,
This vast world has no conventional land; countless floating sky islands form the ground of this realm. Clouds flow slowly between the islands, dyed golden by the distant giant sun.
When night falls, the stars will replace the sun, and by then, each sky island will turn into a beacon of starlight.
At the center of the Gods’ Dimension, there stands a sky-reaching World Tree.
On the crown of the World Tree, a magnificent temple shines like a pearl on a crown.
"This dimension is truly beautiful," Richard couldn’t help but exclaim.
Compared to the somber Wizard Dimension, the Gods’ Dimension seemed like a real Divine Country.
However, for some reason, Richard smelled a slight scent of decay in this splendid world.
Richard looked at the World Tree at the center of the world, where golden leaves were gracefully falling with the wind.
Suddenly, a staircase appeared beside Richard, and moments later, a Black Crow followed the stairs into the Gods’ Dimension.
"Caw, Richard, how have you been... why is the World Tree shedding its leaves?"
Ulysses landed on Richard’s shoulder, a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes as he looked at the World Tree shedding leaves in the distance.
Richard was intrigued and asked, "Oh? From what you say, the World Tree never shed leaves before?"
"Not exactly, it did shed a few times, but..." A hint of solemnity appeared in Ulysses’ eyes, "it was never as severe as this time."
At the dimension’s center, World Tree’s leaves swirled in the wind, resembling a snowstorm.
Ulysses looked at Richard: "The World Tree is the symbol of the God King of Ten Thousand Changes; wasn’t the Abyss at a ceasefire?"
Richard watched the falling leaves, not answering the question.
"Seems like the Gods Civilization isn’t very peaceful lately."
With that, his figure turned into a stream of light, flying towards the World Tree.
Reaching the Pantheon, Richard entered.
The Pantheon was eerily silent.
As the most unique existence in the Gods’ Dimension, the Pantheon can almost be considered the supreme treasure of the Gods Civilization.
All the Divine have left divine statues in the Pantheon, which assist in responding to believers, storing the Power of Faith, and even serve as a means for resurrection.
However, apart from the Divine King, it was rare for gods to act within the Pantheon.
"Why are there so many statues missing?"
Upon entering the Pantheon, Ulysses on Richard’s shoulder let out a startled cry.
Richard scanned the Pantheon with a glance; this grand temple appeared much larger inside than on the outside, almost akin to a small world.
Here, countless Divine statues were surrounded by various phenomena.
If one didn’t possess enough strength, they couldn’t even glimpse some of the Divine’s faces.
But now, the statues that should have been densely packed appeared somewhat sparse. Even among those still standing, many were covered with cracks, as if they might crumble at any moment.
Richard made a rough estimate; currently, there should be less than eight thousand statues in the Pantheon.
If the name Pantheon wasn’t a hyperbole, then at least two thousand divinities had perished in the war.
"Is this number abnormal?" Richard asked calmly.
Ulysses’ voice carried a hint of dread.
"Extremely abnormal, even during the fiercest times of the Abyss War, the number of statues in the temple never fell below eight thousand five hundred.
What on earth happened! Why are so many statues missing?"
Richard furrowed his brow slightly, estimating the position of the Gods Civilization.
The Abyss borders the Wizards, Wizards border the gods, and nearby are the Galaxy Mayflies... doesn’t that mean the Galaxy Mayflies are adjacent to the gods?
If that’s the case...
A shadow crossed Richard’s mind, and he immediately moved to the statues of the three god kings.
The Gods Civilization has three god kings: the Eternal God King, the God King of Ten Thousand Changes, and the Sun God King. Among them, the Eternal God King and the God King of Ten Thousand Changes are the founders of the Gods Civilization, while the Sun God King is a young Dominator who ascended during the early Abyss War.
Richard gazed at the three statues towering above all others, gently touching them with the Power of Faith.
In the next moment, two dignified wills emanated from the statues.
"Who are you, and why do you touch my statue!" The source of this content ɪs novel⦿fire.net
Sensing only two wills, Richard’s frown deepened further.
He had clearly touched the statues of all three god kings, but only two had responded.
This was very unusual.
Currently, the Abyss has ceased its war with the Gods Civilization. The three god kings should theoretically be quite at ease; even if injured, they should still respond if their statues were disturbed.
Unless... that god king is engaged in a battle.
A battle so intense that responding is difficult.
Richard’s heart sank, and he responded to one of the wills.
"Eternal God King, you should recognize me. It was under my mediation that the friendly treaty between the gods and Wizards was successfully established."
In the next moment, the will of the Eternal God King surged from the statue like a tide, sweeping over Richard in an instant.
After confirming Richard’s identity, the statue before him suddenly shattered; more precisely, the layer of stone on the surface broke apart.
Revealing something that seemed to be an avatar of the Eternal God King.
The avatar slowly floated into the air, and a spiritual message emanated from it.
"Richard, what brings you to the Pantheon?"
Richard smiled and said, "For peace."
The Eternal God King was slightly stunned, and then there was a hint of anxiety in the spiritual message that followed.
"The gods have already signed a non-aggression pact with the wizards. Do you mean to say that someone within your ranks wants to break the contract!?"
"No, no, no, of course not." Richard shook his head with a smile. "We wizards are not war maniacs. We’ve just ended a war with the Galaxy Mayflies, and we’re not interested in another round with the gods."
While speaking, Richard’s expression was calm, but inside he had sunk to the bottom.
Judging by the Eternal God King’s attitude, the worst-case scenario he had imagined had likely already occurred.
"I am here this time for the war between the gods and the Abyss."
The war between the gods and the Abyss...
The Eternal God King pondered for a moment, then suddenly realized something.
Richard also seemed to be an Abyss Dominator.
Richard’s ascension consumed not only the Power of Dimension from the gods’ dimension; the Abyss was likely also unable to escape Richard’s appetite.
"I see, I was wondering why that bastard Samuel hasn’t been looking for a fight recently."
The spiritual message from the Eternal God King carried a hint of relief.
However, the Eternal God King quickly noticed something amiss.
How could the Abyss and the gods have a cease-fire?
After entangling with the Abyss for nearly half an epoch, the Eternal God King had a profound understanding of the Abyss Demons—they were nothing short of battle fanatics.
For such a nearly biological weapon-like race, how could they possibly choose to cease hostilities?
The galaxy around the Eternal God King began to spin faster, resembling an eternal wheel of time and space.
Richard calmly said, "Merely a contract."
"What kind of contract?"
Richard took the Destiny Contract out of his pocket.
"The war between us wizards and the Galaxy Mayflies has ended under the intervention of the Civilization Devourer. To counter the Civilization Devourer, we wizards have decided to follow the example of previous civilizations and form a Civilization Alliance to face future wars.
As one of the civilizations with diplomatic ties to the wizards, we hope the gods’ civilization can join the Wizard Alliance."
"Civilization Alliance, Wizard Alliance..."
The Eternal God King noticed the change in Richard’s wording, and with his experience, he naturally knew what this represented.
"Has the Abyss already joined?"
Richard nodded, "Yes, two dominators of the Abyss have already agreed to join the Wizard Alliance. Dominator Samuel has even gone to the front line to fight against the minions of the Civilization Devourer."
The Eternal God King fell into deep thought.
The information contained in Richard’s words was vast. First, the Civilization Devourer is strong, strong enough that even the Wizard Civilization cannot resist alone and must join forces with other civilizations.
Secondly, the Abyss has already joined the Wizard Alliance, and Samuel has even personally arrived at the Wizard Civilization’s front line to fight.
This means that the wizards and the Abyss have become true allies.
This is certainly not good news for the gods.
"It seems we have no choice but to join now." The spiritual message from the Eternal God King carried a hint of heaviness.
"If we don’t join, the Abyss is likely to reignite the war. And you will also sever ties with the gods, turning to fully support the Abyss."
Although a non-aggression pact was signed between the wizards and the gods, it doesn’t mean the wizards are without means against the gods.
A mercenary contract could allow the wizards to bypass the non-aggression pact.
The cost of doing so would simply be not acquiring the world as spoils of war.
Upon hearing this, Richard feigned a sigh and said, "Eternal God King, you think too ill of the wizards. We are a friendly civilization, at least a civilization that is friendly towards others.
We fought a war with the Galaxy Mayflies for so many years, with so many casualties. After the war ended, the Galaxy Mayflies continued to live under our rule as usual.
Even within the Wizard Alliance, they have voting rights."
The Eternal God King was somewhat speechless, stunned by Richard’s shamelessness.
After a long silence, he spoke, "If vassal races can have a seat at the table, I fear the god’s votes would drown yours."
"Oh? Do they have a dominator?" Richard pretended to be surprised.
"The Galaxy Mayflies can have a seat because they have a dominator as their leader."
"...The dominator of the Galaxy Mayflies is actually that humble?" The Eternal God King found it somewhat hard to believe.
Richard’s smile faded, and he said seriously, "I think you have quite a misunderstanding of us wizards, God King.
We only restricted his freedom in the Material World; the Endless Dimension is vast, and he can go wherever he pleases.
For the dominator of a failed civilization, these are exceedingly generous terms."
The Eternal God King looked at Richard, able to discern that Richard’s words were no lie.
He took the contract, carefully reading it before leaving his mark.
"I’m very curious about what kind of thing it is that demands such caution from all of you."
Richard’s expression turned solemn, and he slowly said, "What thing... If I’m not mistaken, you should have already seen it, God King."