novelraw #166 - Section 166
#166 - Section 166
This is also why the sacrificial site was chosen to be a deserted island.
The journey was uneventful, and two days later,
the cargo ship arrived in the Sea Kingdom's territory and, guided by schools of fish, reached the target island.
Another round of intense preparations followed.
Roger was hung on the cross, while Old Jostar and Sharte worked together to prepare the sacrifice.
The Tianming Army and the Sea Kingdom laborers were unaware that their mentor's core had been replaced, and that the empire had made careful arrangements beneath the altar.
In their eyes, this was a successful sacrifice of great magnitude, and they were preparing the sacrifice with utmost seriousness to make their comrades' sacrifices worthwhile.
However, they were moving in the wrong direction, and no matter how much effort they put in, they would not reach the shore of success.
Finally, everything was ready.
The sacred fire was lit, and the profound magic circle shone with a divine light. Sharte began to call out the name of Nalineel.
Behind Roger, a one-way, pre-arranged interdimensional channel opened.
But the exit on the other end of the channel never opened.
At this point, only two minutes remained before the two-month deadline of the gambling agreement.
Cold sweat dripped from Sharte's forehead.
Nalineel did not respond, and the sacrificial ritual could not be completed.
There were many reasons for the lack of response.
Deviations in interdimensional magical consciousness, interference from the astral realm, Nalineel entering a special plane...
Or perhaps, the woman was simply pretending not to hear.
Based on Sharte's original caution, she had set aside at least a day for the sacrifice after the operation, precisely to prevent these unexpected events.
However, due to the "Empire's obstruction," her departure from the City of Arcana was delayed considerably.
Some minor accidents also occurred during the construction of the ritual, delaying the time again and again.
Now, her gambling agreement was already counting down.
Sharte's expression grew increasingly anxious. She cut her finger and dripped blood into the magic circle to increase the effectiveness of the summoning.
Old Jostar directed the other priests, nervously adjusting the magic ritual, trying to find the reason for the sacrifice's failure.
The believers offered more sacrifices to please Nalineel.
In the silent but increasingly heavy atmosphere, the two minutes mercilessly ran out.
At two minutes and one second, six pure white wings appeared at the other end of the spatial channel constructed by the sacrificial magic circle.
A beautiful angel slowly walked out, ready to reap the benefits.
Chapter 145: Huh? I, Who Was Supposed to be Invincible, am Disconnected?
The Astral Realm, a carefree and indulgent paradise, where the beautiful creatures of almost every race in the multiverse can be found.
And the environment around each person can be naturally transformed into the fantasies in their hearts, creating ideal food and clothing at will.
This place is called the Elysian Fields, the divine kingdom of Tesles, the God of Hope.
It is also his secret forbidden land where he keeps countless concubines and catamites, engaging in never-ending revelry, and is known as the most beautiful divine kingdom in the multiverse.
Because ordinary gods would spend their precious power of faith on combat, not on beauty.
However, today, the Elysian Fields is anything but joyous.
A six-winged angel with fiery red hair directed guards in neat uniforms, carrying the treasures, magical creations, and rare races that Tesles had collected from different worlds.
She even directly cut off the core structure of the divine kingdom, converting it back into the power of faith, and collecting it into special crystal containers.
"Lady Nalineel, you can't do this! If you do this, my divine kingdom will be destroyed... Please give me three more months, and I will definitely return the full amount of faith power to you and pay you double the interest."
The young God of Hope constantly flattered and begged, surrounding the six-winged angel and promising her the high interest she loved most.
A god should not be so polite to an angel who should only be a servant and tool of the gods, but the angel in front of him had another identity.
She was his creditor.
Tesles' indulgent life, the beautiful life in the Elysian Fields, actually required the power of faith to support it.
But he was enjoying himself every day, and he had no energy to carefully manage his church. The power of faith simply could not support his life.
Sometimes, when he was short of money and could not restrain his desires, he would borrow some from the generous Lady Nalineel to tide him over.
Nalineel lived up to her name of generosity and always saved him from trouble.
As the number of turnovers increased, small amounts of consumption accumulated into astronomical figures. Coupled with the overdue interest, the God of Hope's credit exploded—
The consequence was that all his savings were emptied, and the most beautiful divine kingdom was forcibly demolished into a large construction site.
"Lord Tesles, I also want to believe you, but based on the data of your past performance, the probability of you repaying the power of faith after three months is far less than 5%. In fact, you will only squander the existing power of faith even more, so liquidation now is our best choice."
Nalineel held a miniature Elysian Fields in her palm. "Now, if you mortgage your divine kingdom, you can pay off all the principal and 50% interest. But after three months, you can probably only pay 30% of the interest."
"That's because your interest rate is rising too fast! You vicious woman, how dare you be so disrespectful to a god! I should teach you what respect and hierarchy are on behalf of the God of Knowledge!"
Tesles became enraged and his expression suddenly turned ferocious.
His beautiful appearance suddenly changed, becoming a four-headed, eight-armed bear child wielding spears, golden rings, and other weapons.
However, the original youthful face was arrogant and unrestrained, waving a red silk towards Nalineel, while simultaneously spewing out blazing flames.
Although he was a young god, that was only relative to other gods. Tesles' attack was actually quite experienced, and he went all out from the start.
He was inherently a chaotic and indulgent character. Watching his home being demolished bit by bit, and the disappointed eyes of his lovers behind him, anger overwhelmed reason.
He didn't even think about what the God of Knowledge would do to him if he defeated Nalineel.
"Why hurt our harmony..."
Nalineel sighed softly, raised her slender fingers, and pointed towards Tesles' brow.
The angry three-headed youth suddenly froze in mid-air, and even the flames did not approach Nalineel, stopping in front of him.
[Anti-God Armament: Time Stop]
Because it was so exquisite, even gods could not be immune to this control skill.
It was only a very short pause, but it was enough for Nalineel to dodge all of the three-headed youth's attacks, and then extract fragmented space, condensing it into a tangible but transparent thin sword.
With a gentle wave, the sharp blade condensed from the turbulence of time and space cut off Tesles' three heads and six arms.
That way, he looked much more normal.
Time returned to normal.
Nalineel and Tesles crossed paths, and the God of Hope wailed to the sky.
The falling limbs turned into pure power of faith, converging into Nalineel's palm.
"According to calculations, it can be used as compensation for my mental damage, and 30% of the interest," Nalineel announced expressionlessly.
Tesles gasped for breath, changed back to his usual appearance, with no visible scars on his body, but his face was extremely pale, looking at Nalineel with horror and fear: "You are an angel, how dare you resist the judgment of a god..."
"You have the right to appeal to my lord at any time."
Nalineel threw the final liquidation list to Tesles, and led her people to open the teleportation array, preparing to leave.
At this moment, Nalineel's body paused, revealing a look of doubt.
She clearly remembered that she sent out a projection, timed perfectly, to collect double the gambling prize from Sharte.
Why couldn't she sense that projection at all now?
Could I, who was supposed to be invincible, also be disconnected?
That shouldn't be! Let me sense it again!
Having finally sent away the plague god, Tesles' face became even paler.
Did this greedy woman feel that she hadn't earned enough and wanted to tear off another leg, or other parts?
Apart from my own body, my divine kingdom really doesn't seem to have anything else that is worth a lot of the power of faith!
...
...
Overseas, unnamed island.
A mountain-like pressure instantly enveloped the entire scene, and the perfect, almost unreal, slender figure contained terrifying power.
The body, as if woven from pure light, was faintly translucent.
The clean, immaculate, and superior posture naturally caused many believers of the God of Knowledge present to kneel down and greet the most beloved messenger under the god's seat.
Time Shepherd, the strongest angel under the gods, Nalineel.
Even if only a projection walked out of the channel, the power contained within her body was close to the limit that this world could accommodate.
Nalineel looked down at Sharte condescendingly, her eyes showing pity and her voice cold and ruthless: "Miss Veronica, you are overtime. According to the relevant terms of the agreement, I will receive your body."
Sharte knelt on the ground: "Lord, I have successfully captured Roger. The slight overtime cannot be ruled out as being due to your side, so please give me a chance to create higher value for you..."
"I only judge according to the rules set by the gambling agreement. You did not send the sacrifice on time, which means your failure should be judged," Nalineel tilted her head slightly, and looked at Roger, "As for him, he is just spoils of war that I picked up on the beach when I came to receive the bet, it has nothing to do with you."
Sharte lowered her head, her body trembling slightly, not knowing whether it was because of fear or anger.
Obviously, this black-hearted angel deliberately delayed the response, waited until the gambling agreement was overtime, and then took all of Roger and Sharte's bodies.
Small operations, big gains, win big!
She was the one who set the terms of the gambling agreement, and she was also the one who made the judgment and interpretation of the terms. In such an environment lacking supervision, it was inevitable that Nalineel would become the Seven Gods' winner.
The believers on the island had doubts and incomprehension.
But from their perspective, the two high-level believers they couldn't afford to provoke had a conflict, and they didn't want to get involved, so they could only minimize their presence as much as possible, kneeling on the ground, pretending they couldn't see anything, couldn't see anything.
At present, Nalineel occupied an absolute advantage, absolute initiative.
But precisely because of the beautiful prospects, the double harvest, and the fluke of greed, Nalineel was less cautious than usual.
A win-win is not that I and the other side both get benefits, but that I take the other side's benefits as well, that's so cool!
There was nothing to fear from Sharte, who was in despair!
"Sharte, accept the outcome of failure, do not resist."
Nalineel's wings fluttered gently, lowering her altitude while the projection etherealized, turning into a ball of light and entering Sharte's body.
Immediately, six wings grew from the back of the Tianming mentor, and a touch of red was also highlighted on the silver hair.
Sharte suddenly raised her head, but her face did not have the expected anger, disappointment, or panic. Her empty eyes paired with a grinning mouth formed a rather strange smile:
"Lord, the one who failed is not me. Now, I have also caught your soul!"
She knelt on the ground, pressed her hand on the sacrificial magic circle that injected her blood, the spatial channel suddenly collapsed, and the magic circle pattern also reversed into some kind of seal.
And the target of the seal was—
Herself!
Golden, dense, and ancient magic runes woven into chains emerged from the ground, first locking the six wings so that there was not even the slightest bit of movement space, before spreading to Sharte's body.
The power of angels comes from the gods' rewards. The more wings, the stronger they are, and they are also the source of power they can use to mobilize divine power.
Facing the divine weapons made by angels, it is inevitable to sigh "wings are the main body", and targeting the wings first is an excellent strategy.
The change was sudden, but Nalineel was also a presence who left a great reputation in the multiverse, and her name alone could make Old Jostar tremble.
Not only were there endless insidious methods, but as a six-winged angel, her direct combat strength was also powerful.
She looked up and screamed, and the weaker believers directly solidified into sand weathered by time.
At the same time, with her as the center, the speed of all existences became slower and slower, including the golden chain magic that was about to complete the blockade.
[Anti-God Armament: Time Stop]
This was the origin of Nalineel's title as Time Shepherd, because she exquisitely manipulated the time-varying planes possessed by the God of Knowledge. Over time, her understanding of time had surpassed most gods.
So her time stop was very powerful, and ordinary gods could not completely exempt themselves from it, but could only reduce the damage.
But the change in the flow of time only lasted for a very short moment before returning to normal.