Casting a spell capable of altering the very biology of a species exacts a heavy toll, often paid in blood.
The cost was immediate.
As the adrenaline from the ritual subsided, Libinea's eyelids fluttered, succumbing to an overwhelming exhaustion that seemed to crush her spirit. Her legs trembled, unable to support the weight of her divine power.
She collapsed backward.
Raiking caught her just before she hit the ground. Though barely conscious, she summoned her last ounce of strength to gesture toward the Pearl hovering in the air. No longer a simple glowing orange sphere, it was now encased in a shell of shifting black runes—the markings of the Law of Time.
"P-protect it..." Libinea whispered, her voice faint, before her head slumped against Raiking's chest.
Raiking drew the Pearl into his palm. His void-like eyes examined the intricate matrix of the spell, unraveling the modifications the two women had made.
"She didn't just remove the access..." Raiking murmured, grasping the reality.
Libinea had aimed to completely eliminate the Nirvana capability to protect her people. Yet, the Goddess had implemented a conditional clause. Now, the Pearl was biologically locked, granting immortality only to those with Phoenix blood. To anyone else, it was merely a stone.
Raiking looked up at the Goddess.
Her once golden skin appeared pale, with cracks of white light splintering across her arms—a visible backlash from defying the Cosmic Law she had sworn to uphold. She had altered Fate once to create the baby; doing it again to preserve Libinea's legacy was a gamble that could shatter her divinity.
"The price..." Raiking began, stepping forward.
"I am fine," the Goddess interrupted, her voice strained.
She gave him no chance to respond. Her form disintegrated into starlight, vanishing from the hall instantly to conceal her weakness.
Raiking attempted to track her signature, but he couldn't. The frozen world around him was slowly beginning to fracture.
Time was of the essence. He had mere seconds before the Divine Realm descended into chaos.
Adjusting his hold on Libinea, he slashed his hand through the air, opening a rift directly to his escape carriage. He stepped through, dragging the unconscious Queen with him.
---
[Divine Realm Entrance - Inside the Twilight Carriage]
Raiking closed the rift behind him with a forceful motion, exhaling a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. He carefully placed Libinea on the seat.
"Moo!"
Raiking froze in place.
He surveyed the scene.
The opulent, velvet-lined interior of the Twilight Carriage was unexpectedly occupied by three celestial cows. They returned his gaze with large, liquid eyes, all the while chewing on the chair.
He looked from the unconscious Libinea back to the cows, recalling the heist from earlier that felt as if it had happened in another era.
"..."
This was not the time for distractions.
With a nonchalant flick of his wrist, he created a small portal in the carriage floor. The cows dropped through the opening, disappearing immediately.
---
[The Guild Sect - The Holy Garden]
The Fairy King and Queen were enjoying a rare moment of tranquility. The baby was asleep, the dragons were silent, and they were currently hovering over a single, radiant flower.
It was the Moon-Weave Orchid, a plant that bloomed once every three thousand years.
"It's opening!" The Fairy King whispered, tears of joy streaming down his small face. "Look, my love! The petals are unfurling!"
"It's beautiful," the Fairy Queen sighed. "A sign of good fortune!"
A rift opened in the sky directly above them.
MOOOOOOO!
CRASH.
Three tons of prime celestial beef plummeted from the heavens, landing directly on the garden bed. Dirt, petals, and fairy dust exploded outward.
When the dust settled, the Moon-Weave Orchid was gone. In its place sat a bewildered cow, happily munching on the crushed remains of the legendary flower.
"MY FLOWER!!" The Fairy King shrieked, his voice cracking.
"WHO DARES?!" the Fairy Queen roared, conjuring two tiny tornadoes in her hands, prepared to strike at the intruder. "WHO IS DROPPING COWS ON MY HEAD?!"
Silence met them. The cow simply burped.
---
[The Divine Realm - The Throne Room]
In the banquet hall, time resumed with an overwhelming intensity, as if a dam had burst. The clatter of overturned tables, the screams of the guests, and the commanding voice of the Divine Emperor filled the air.
Ezmelral sat alone at the guest table, a chicken bone dangling from her lips, her expression marked by confusion.
"Master?" she muttered, glancing around. He was nowhere in sight. The Goddess and Libinea were also absent.
"Where did they go?"
She shrugged, reaching for another platter of meat, but a Sect Leader's frantic shout interrupted her.
"The Fallen General!?"
He was in an aggressive stance, his spear thrust forward, yet he did not move an inch. At first, the observers failed to notice the subtle slit on his neck, not until his complexion shifted to a dull, lifeless gray.
Thud.
His body fell to the floor like a toppled statue. He was dead, his life force severed just before time had resumed.
"What is going on?" exclaimed a Void Cultivator in shock
"Is he... dead?" gasped the Keeper of the Celestial Library.
Shock rippled through the guests as they struggled to comprehend the bizarre events that had unfolded in an instant. Panic quickly gave way to a far grimmer scene.
Gack... Hrk...
The sound of several immortals choking filled the room.
Ezmelral watched as different colored lights began to glow within their stomachs, climbing up their esophagi and illuminating their throats from within.
Cough!
Several guests collapsed over the tables, expelling glowing orbs.
"Phoenix Pearls..." the Divine Emperor whispered, his complexion pale.
Everyone in the hall had heard tales of the black market where these pearls were sold.
These were the immortals who had bought their longevity with ill-gotten gains. Their confusion stemmed from one question: Why were the pearls suddenly rejecting them?
The backlash did not stop with expulsion. Those who had depended on the Phoenix Pearls began to suffer the consequences of borrowed time. Their once youthful, flawless skin wrinkled rapidly. Their silky hair turned gray and fell out in clumps.
"What is happening!?" an Elder screamed, staring at his withering hands.
"Help me! My cultivation!"
"Divine Emperor, save us—"
But it was too late. Their bodies crumbled into dust, carried away by an uncanny breeze that swept through the hall at that precise moment.
They had borrowed centuries of life, and the debt was now due immediately.
Ezmelral, assessing the scene, quickly identified the perpetrator.
"Libinea must have dispensed her justice," she murmured quietly.
To steer clear of any questioning, she metamorphosed, her body glinting as it became a towering silver greatsword.
BOOM.
She tore through the ceiling, shattering the intricate frescoes as she soared into the sky toward the Twilight Carriage.
"Should we pursue them?" one of the Golden Guards inquired, visibly shaking.
"Are you suggesting we pursue the God of Death's sword? Do you have a desire to die?" another guard replied.
All eyes turned to the Divine Emperor. His banquet was ruined, the prisoner inexplicably dead, and his once-immortal cultivators now reduced to dust in the wind.
His usual composure faltered under this level of disrespect. Yet, faced with a Guild wielding absolute power, what could he do?
He slumped back onto his throne and let out a long, defeated sigh. "Clean this up."