So as she channeled her power, a radiant light appeared in Astaroth's hand, forming a sharp and enormous golden sword. Like those ancient warriors and heroes, she raised the greatsword high and slashed fiercely at the god of death.
Gold is wealth mined from the earth and a symbol of Astaroth's financial power. The golden greatsword pierced the translucent body of the stillborn god, but instead of drawing blood, it began to absorb its energy!
The cold wind and icy light—these divine powers were slowly drawn from the spirit of the stillborn god by the golden sword. Astaroth's power was a symbol of seizing wealth and turning it into strength; it was self-serving and harmful to others, and could be described as incredibly powerful.
...Unfortunately, this stillborn god was even stronger.
Even if Astaroth tries to seize its power, it is still stronger now!
The stillborn god raised the [Heavenly Punishment Sword] and swung it. The black sword clashed with the golden sword, shattering Astaroth's golden sword into pieces in an instant! The power was so great that the aftershocks of the explosion tore through the outer walls of [Fallen City] and crashed into the city!
The poorest people in the city were somewhat better off, thanks to the protection of the professor, Hongye, and the cult. The lower-class residents, however, were the most unfortunate, caught between the upper and lower floors. The mere aftershocks of that single sword strike killed hundreds upon hundreds of unfortunate civilians in the lower-class residential area.
At this point, most citizens were still reeling from the sudden material stoppage and hadn't figured out what was going on when hundreds or thousands of innocent people inexplicably lost their lives!
When they die at such close range, the cold wind and icy light devour their spirits and souls, filling the hunger of the dead fetus god.
Astaroth was heartbroken over her possessions, but she couldn't spare the time to save them, as her own condition wasn't much better. The aftershocks of the clash between the Divine Punishment Sword and her golden sword actually tore apart Astaroth's magnificent clothes and jewelry, shattering the divine symbols of her wealth and power!
It's important to know that Astaroth was most afraid of having her clothes and jewelry cut off by the blade of death, severing her divine power. She had a deep-seated fear of this from ancient times.
Now she was truly terrified: "Hecate, stop staring! Come help me right now!"
You were a fallen angel, and now you're a local god and a great devil, how can you be so low?
While inwardly cursing, Abigail quickly took action. Standing atop the tower, she waved her hand and cast a spell, drawing a seven-pointed star in mid-air, symbolizing the seven planets. The seven-pointed star magic circle immediately appeared from the heavens and sea, pressing down from above to severely suppress the stillborn god who was spreading its wings.
She had already discovered that this stillborn infant god was essentially a mindless baby. Faced with strange attacks, it wouldn't dodge at all, at most instinctively swinging the [Heavenly Punishment Sword] around randomly. Abigail had now woven the ancient god's magic into a fine, intricate net, which the stillborn certainly couldn't completely evade.
—However, in the next instant, as if mocking the Demon Goddess's clever scheme, the stillborn child god released spatial fluctuations from its body. It thus forcibly distorted space and broke free from the binding force of the seven-pointed star's magic array.
Abigail was immediately stunned: "Huh!?"
These are clearly deliberate actions. How did this stillborn spirit suddenly gain intelligence?
And it seems pretty strong!?
Fortunately, Astaroth wasn't truly stupid, and besides, she was the real fallen angel here. She quickly realized the problem and finally understood: "Hecate, you said this thing is a hybrid born from the mixed power of fallen angels, but how could a hybrid wield the [Divine Punishment Sword]? Its spiritual purity seems to be higher than the two of us!?"
These fallen angels have fallen from the upper realm and entered this material world as spirits, separated from the source and unable to receive energy from it.
Therefore, they were forced to absorb the elements and energy of this material world. Eventually, they degenerated from pure spirits into beings that were both spirit and flesh, just as a glass of clear water turned into a bucket of muddy water.
However, the thing that is now presented to them, although it is not a real fallen angel, is actually purer than their mud and water, more able to interfere with time and space, and more able to use the divine power of wind and light before the fall, and can even use the [Divine Punishment Sword] to kill fallen angels.
A bastard born from the blood of a fallen angel, a false angel who could theoretically be replicated and recreated, thus imitated and reproduced their divine power from long ago, before their fall, before Astaroth.
Thinking of this, Astaroth finally felt an indescribable, extreme fear.
Did Hayden, that brat, make this thing?
If so, does this mean that... the new gods of capital will soon be able to mass-produce things like these angels?
Thinking of this, Astaroth felt even more frightened, almost to the point of being stunned.
"What on earth did that kid Hayden do? Where did he run off to?! Get him out here and explain!"
Unfortunately, Hayden probably won't be able to get up and explain for the time being.
223: Questions and Answers about Death
On the sea, Abigail and Astaroth were still fighting against the stillborn demon god.
The ravenous stillborn goddess wanted to devour the souls of everyone in the Fallen City, but Astaroth absolutely could not allow her resources to be completely consumed. However, even if she tried her best to protect the Fallen City, the people in the city would still suffer some casualties.
Because the stillborn god is now stronger than Staroth.
With a swing of its sword, it unleashed the power of a fallen god of light. A chilling, intense light erupted, followed by an explosive force, like the splitting of atoms, that blasted towards Astaroth and the Fallen City. Even Astaroth was forced to defend himself first.
As for the mortals, whose power was inferior to that of the gods, they were utterly powerless to resist. They were like unfortunate civilians caught in a nuclear explosion; in an instant, thousands were burned to ashes by the white light, their souls and consciousness devoured by the stillborn fetuses to fill their hunger.
Moreover, the power of the stillborn god wasn't limited to this. The corrupted winds—lightning, gales, and furious surges—writhed into towering waves, the currents raging, tearing at the outer walls of the Fallen City. Under the bombardment of this divine storm of lightning, even the outer shell of the space station, originally designed to withstand cosmic rays, was blasted open. The ordinary people in the civilian residential areas were naturally even more helpless; hundreds were swept in every second, either dead or injured.
These were merely the aftermath of the battle between the stillborn god and the two fallen angels.
However, if Astaroth had the resources to upgrade and maintain her city, the situation might have been different. A space city wall that had received normal resource investment for maintenance certainly wouldn't have been so easily breached.
Money—it's all because she has no money! Astaroth doesn't even have a personal guard she can muster to fight alongside her. While she has some high-ranking demons, they're outdated and few in number, far fewer than a true fighting force of the gods. And even these fighting demons are currently being used to protect high-ranking areas and the elite tourists from the gods. They have no time to attend to ordinary citizens, nor to help Astaroth.
In fact, Astaroth is now wielding the golden greatsword and fighting against the stillborn god's [Divine Punishment Sword]. The power of this sword is so strong that anyone who gets within a hundred meters of them, without the strength of a warrior god, will surely die.
This is why major companies develop, design, and mass-produce their own Protoss combat units. Only specially designed Protoss combat units that can be integrated with the remote command of the true gods can be used in battles at the level of true gods, and can even overwhelm the gods with their sheer numbers and combined military might.
Only Abigail Hecate can currently cast spells to support Astaroth from a short distance—but her power as a fallen angel is still very weak.
In desperation, Astaroth had no choice but to play her trump card. Suddenly, the weapon in her hand was no longer the hastily concocted golden sword, but a lion-headed scepter. With a wave of her hand, the lion's head on the scepter opened its mouth and roared out its demon-slaying power.
This roar even forced the power of the stillborn god to retreat slightly for a moment!
"Ishtar's old artifact? Is this the mitum (lion's staff) you used to slay demons?"
Abigail was greatly surprised when she saw the scepter.
"I thought your old gadgets were all acquired by other big companies when you went bankrupt?"
Unexpectedly, Astaroth became even angrier upon hearing this, gritting her teeth in fury: "It was taken away! I'm currently using the causal link and mortgaging my property with the Mars Group to temporarily rent back my artifact!"
噫
These words sounded so tragic that Abigail couldn't help but feel sorry for her.
However, the battle between Astaroth and the stillborn goddess was indeed arduous and tragic. If Astaroth hadn't gone bankrupt, if she still possessed the immense wealth and power she had at her peak, she could have actually defeated the stillborn goddess.
After all, this stillborn goddess was just a newborn infant. In terms of combat skills, Astaroth, the warrior goddess, was undoubtedly stronger. She was only losing because of insufficient power and even inferior equipment.
Having mortgaged and leased back the Lion's Scepter, Astaroth's equipment was finally a little better. However, before she could even wield her old weapon for a few rounds, the stillborn god swung the [Divine Punishment Sword] and slashed it through the void.
In the blink of an eye, with a crisp "crack," Astaroth's lion scepter disappeared again—the stillborn goddess had severed the causal link of her rented artifact with a single sword stroke, returning the weapon she had borrowed to her.
This left Astaroth utterly astonished: "This works?! Why is this stillborn baby getting smarter and smarter?!"
Unlike Astaroth, a warrior-type, Abigail, as a demon goddess, could perceive something far more mysterious. The countless souls who perished in the chaos were either directly devoured by the stillborn god or piled up inside the tower. Having acquired a portion of Hecate's attributes as a goddess of the underworld, Abigail could sense that her surroundings were being altered by this terrible situation.
"Astaroth! Forget about the weapon, it's the causal threads! It's using the causal threads to pull the underworld here!"
Because of the sudden and massive deaths of a large number of people, and because this place truly is the Dead Sea, Abigail vaguely sensed that the phase between the soul and the material world, the distance between life and death, was shortening on a supernatural level.
This stillborn spirit is becoming more and more like a spirit than a matter. It is gradually pulling the supernatural concept of the underworld toward the material world—or you could say it is pulling the material world toward the underworld, since they are essentially the same thing.
If this situation were to develop to the point where the underworld were to merge with this Dead Sea, turning it into a sea of death in the truest sense, that would be no fun at all.
But why is this stillborn goddess able to do such a thing? Abigail thought about it carefully and realized that the answer was not hard to guess: whether it was the stillborn, Hecate, the goddess of the underworld, or even Ishtar herself, they all actually had a lot of connection with the underworld!
While every pantheon and culture has a god of death, the power of death and the underworld has never been something that gods can simply manipulate. A glance at ancient myths reveals that while the gods could intervene in death to some extent, they had to be careful and pay a price when dealing with it. Whether it was Zeus, Wotan (Odin), or the even more ancient Baal and Ishtar, no matter how great their authority, they had to give death some respect and acknowledge the mysteries of the underworld.
In ancient times, Ishtar once tried to defy death, but instead was stripped naked and stripped of her artifacts, almost being trapped in the underworld forever.
This may sound strange, but the power of the gods and death is, to a certain extent, equal. Death and the underworld are even more mysterious than the so-called god of death.
Death and the underworld are far more mysterious than the gods that people are familiar with.
Having lived for over four hundred years and even possessing a portion of Hecate's memories, Abigail has only ever seen one thing ride the face of death—that is Angela.
Given the dire situation, Abigail couldn't help but pray silently:
(Hayden, Angela, where are you dragging this out? Come quick, help!)
Because the stillborn spirits came to the surface of the sea, their spiritual senses were blocked, and they had no idea what was happening at the bottom of the sea.
If they knew Hayden's current condition, Abigail would probably be even more desperate: his mind and even soul had been blasted apart by the [Heavenly Punishment Sword], how could anyone possibly save him?
——————————————————————————————
Ultimately, what does being killed by the [Heavenly Punishment Divine Sword] really mean?
Similar incidents have occurred before.
The Dark Moon Goddess, who relinquished her name, committed suicide with a fragment of the [Heavenly Punishment Sword], voluntarily giving up her name and eternal life. Giving up eternal life meant embracing eternal death.
This is not a power that leads to death, because some things (such as angels) do not have a death or end. However, the [Divine Punishment Sword] can slay everything, and can kill things that were not originally dead. Its power is to turn existence into nothingness, and to completely eliminate existence.
When something is slain by it, it is as if it has been given a metaphysical death sentence, which is carried out immediately. Even Angela's aura cannot cure this condition.
……But,
But why?
Why is Hayden still able to think?
(I didn't...disappear?)
He opened his eyes in the void. All his extremely blurred consciousness could perceive was pitch blackness.
His spirit and soul should have been blasted apart and dissipated by the [Heavenly Punishment Sword], rendering him incapable of thought. In fact, Hayden now felt as if he were in a complete void, in a darkness where nothing existed.
Nothingness is what it is, it is nothing, it has nothing. It is indescribable and unchangeable, therefore neither man nor god knows anything about it.
Perhaps this is death.
There is nothing here except cold, loneliness, and darkness. There is absolutely nothing, not even pain. For even pain is part of the activity of life.
(Is this what death is?)
Is this complete deletion? Utterly erasing existence, eternal death?
But Hayden had no intention of obediently dying. Although he didn't know exactly what was going on, he was still able to continue thinking in this void, but even these remaining thoughts were vague and difficult.
He had to struggle and thrash about as much as possible, like a drowning man, to keep breathing and prolong his life.
(I...cannot die)
Summoning his last remaining mental strength, Hayden tried to take steps in the darkness.
(I don't want to die!)
How could I possibly accept my fate and die in a place like this!
Strangely enough, once Hayden started to take steps and struggle, his consciousness became clearer and clearer, giving him more and more strength to continue pacing—that is to say, finding a way to escape in the void of darkness where there was nothing, not even light or a path, was far too difficult.
Hayden could only try to maintain his remaining consciousness and wander aimlessly in the void where he could see and feel nothing. To be honest, this was really of no use.
...until Hayden, in the darkness, suddenly felt something beside him.
It was pitch black all around, and he couldn't see anything. This thing was so quiet that he couldn't hear any footsteps, only its breathing. Moreover, the creature's breathing seemed enormous, leading Hayden to conclude that it was a colossal being.
...Uh, an unseen behemoth was right beside him!?
Why?!
As someone who voluntarily went to the battlefield, you should have been mentally prepared to lose your life.
In the darkness, Hayden could only hear the enormous creature speaking to him.
You've had loving parents, friends who fought alongside you, and you've long been prepared to die on the battlefield. Moreover, you've already fought some good battles.
Compared to the vast majority who die on the battlefield, your life is an unattainable treasure.
The voice was actually Hayden's own.
Now, your time to leave this world has come. But you still have unfulfilled regrets. You are still struggling to live, unwilling to die.
【why? 】
This question is really strange.
Hayden was busy struggling to survive in the darkness and didn't want to deal with such a suspicious voice. However, even though he wasn't fully conscious, his more than twenty years of experience studying magic made Hayden realize that it would be unwise to completely ignore such a question in the underworld.
God knows what this thing that's talking is.
So Hayden could only try his best to rouse his somewhat hazy consciousness to think. But strangely enough, once he heard the voice, memories became something he couldn't control. His consciousness unconsciously began to think about his past, his life, and the things he hadn't finished.
As the voice said, Hayden was already quite lucky.
He wasn't an orphan, nor was he born into a desperate and painful family environment. His parents, though ordinary, loved him dearly and were even willing to sacrifice themselves so that their child could receive an education. After entering university, Hayden was fortunate enough to meet professors like Albion and classmates and friends like Karen.
Hayden himself knew that he was already luckier than many others. But after graduating, he risked his life as a mercenary on the battlefield, observing the cruel and distorted capitalist society with a cold eye while living a self-deceptive life.
To say it's irresponsible would be an understatement, but it's the greatest resistance and consequence a child can have when refusing to compromise with an evil regime.
This is such a terrible era.
Now that his soul and spirit have been blasted apart, it seems a bit reckless for him to still be thinking about struggling to survive. Even if he survives today and continues to struggle tomorrow, Hayden cannot bring his dead parents back to life; it's too late.
He himself knows it very well.
What is his reason for wanting to live and fight on, even in the face of such circumstances?