Meanwhile, on the ground and across the ocean, the encroaching vassels under the command of Suzie Han's true form execute their assault with remarkable order, fulfilling their designated roles.
In Guaval City today is no different from any other day.
If one were to discern a distinction, it would be the overcast sky.
Yet, for a young boy residing in the slums, the difference between a sunny day and a cloudy one is negligible.
Clutching a black loaf of bread and a few pills, he hastily navigates the dim and chaotic streets, his mother has collapsed.
He must save her.
A makeshift shelter formed by three wooden planks leaning against a low wall serves as his home, mirroring the plight of most impoverished souls in this city.
As he approaches, he hears his mother's voice.
Illness has transformed this once extraordinary knight into a frail old woman.
Sally, is that you? He lifts the tattered grass curtain and steps into the dimly lit shelter.
Upon hearing his mother s voice, Si s previously numb expression brightens with renewed vitality, and the pain coursing through his body seems to dissipate.
It's me, mother.
He enters the room, helping her sit up and tucking the worn blanket closely around her.
Did you go to church? Did I not tell you never to go there, even if it means starving? Cough, cough.
Do not mind me.
When I am gone, you must head to the sea.
Blow this conchk.
The woman in a fit of agitation thrusts a filthy conch shell into her sons hands.
Following this surge of emotion, she erupts into a series of coughs.
Some blood staining her clothing.
I'm sorry, mother.
Sally feels a pang of guilt in his heart.
He does not respond to her words, but instead places the slightly warmed loaf of bread imbued with his body as heat into her hands.
Mother, I found food and medicine.
He clutches her frail hand.
You will survive, won't you? The boy appears to weep, yet no tears grace his cheeks.
His hands tremble as he notices his mother's breath growing weaker.
The emaciated woman, her once blurred vision gradually sharpening, gazes at him with luminous eyes.
It seems she has come to a realization.
Her withered arm, as brittle as a dried branch, reaches up to caress the boy's cheek.
His previously dark complexion appears strikingly pale today with bruises marring his exposed skin.
A tear escapes from the corner of her eye.
After a prolonged silence, she speaks.
Emi is I who should apologize for bringing you into this wretched world.
I am sorry.
It would have been better if you had no talent.
No, it would have been better if I had never given birth to you.
Mother, please don't say such things, the priest advised.
As long as one is kind and possesses sincere faith, eternal light awaits in heaven.
The boy, in an attempt to comfort her, spoke with an innocence that gradually gave way to a hint of emptiness in his gaze.
"We will be all right," he reassured as if trying to console both his mother and himself.
The mother shook her head, her expression filled with a sadness that defied description, gazing at the boy with an indescribable sorrow.
Yet she could utter no more, for the clarity of consciousness brought unbearable pain, and she could not bear to reveal to him the extent of his loss.
She was a traitor, a hunted figure in a zealot's world, a rat in the gutter, destined to suffer in this awakening, a mother unable to protect her own child.
Boom! The air thundered and the earth trembled.
From the heavens descended a torrent of black flames.
A female sorceress, as if descended from the divine, rode upon a massive black dragon, brandishing her staff.
From a distance, even the vision of once exalted knights could only make out the glimmer of her silver hair.
An attack was imminent.
Instinctively, the woman shielded the young boy with her body, squeezing out the last remnants of her extraordinary power.
It was as if she ignited her very life to conjure a protective barrier.
The final vestigages of her fighting spirit dissipating within her, casting her fully into the realm of the ordinary.
Through the tattered grass curtain, she glimpsed distant flames.
A series of explosions erupted from the opulent gathering of the powerful.
How splendid.
In this wicked world, this devouring world, it would be better for it to be obliterated sooner rather than later.
It was only a pity for you, Sally, her child, the embodiment of pure, radiant virtue, who was destined to find no path of goodness in this world.
In the midst of life and death, a creature with a bird-like head, adorned with a wide-brimmed black hat, draped in a long black robe, leather trousers, and gloves appear before them, wielding a staff.
Oh, look what I found.
A top quality soul so rare.
The resilient female human soul.
The systems supreme deity would surely offer me a handsome price.
The woman s eyes sparkled as she beheld the blue emblem on the creature s staff.
Esteem, sir, might you take my child along with you? The elegant physician shook his head.
That will not do.
That is a tainted, incomplete soul.
I do not collect refuse.
The plague doctor waved his staff.
Pain whisking away the frail body of the elderly woman while simultaneously claiming the pure soul.
Contribution points.
Rising, rising, rising.
One is stronger than a multitude.
The plague doctor, now elated, waved his staff with an almost exuberant glee.
In his mind, echoed the commanding shout of a valiant female knight.
Monroe, stop doawling.
Time is of the essence.
Get to work.
He could still hear the leader as complaints.
What a dreadful place.
Is this the layer of a demon? I've never encountered a soul so severely tormented before.
What will become of my contribution points? It seems that this deity from the divine realm is surprisingly slow to react.
The resistance from the enemy s followers was rather tepid.
Suzah Han had anticipated that her counterpart Shiao Xahan would divert the enemy's elite forces, but to her surprise, it seemed that rather than mounting a defense, the enemy's high tier combatants were primarily contemplating their escape.
This was an unusual occurrence.
Even the elemental deities of your would exhibit a semblance of defiance from their extraordinary armies.
What a disunited divine realm this was.
Nevertheless, this was fortuitous for her.
In this her first divine battle since crossing over, she encountered an opponent whose skills were rather lacking.
Soon the faith in the enemy s divine realm diminished significantly.
Suzihan retracted head avatars causing the 17 Shiao Xihans to vanish.
The true form of Suzi Han then descended into the fray.
It was only when our deity's true essence manifested in the enemy's divine realm that the opposing deities finally took notice and appeared on the battlefield.
When Dalton emerged from his self-created realm of indulgence, the entire divine domain had undergone a drastic transformation, riddled with wounds and devastation.
He roared in fury as he beheld the fleeing or surrendering beings.
In a fit of rage, he resolved to sacrifice all life within this realm.
Divine beings poised for invasion.
Let your luminous offerings illuminate this realm.
Contribute all your glory.
He bellowed.
Chapter 64.