She saw a Mikk suddenly jump out, attack her from behind, grab the smoke goggles, and try to drag her to be burned alive, which was originally a good thing.
As a result, while fighting with Smoke Mirror, Micket shouted things like "Your husband is so great," which made Karen very embarrassed.
Fortunately, Karen always knew what was important and what wasn't. Despite her inner complaints, she immediately took action while Micket was locking her smoke goggles.
"【Dream City】, absorb all this overflowing underworld energy, transform it into life force, and condense it in my hands!"
Clenching her fist, Karen grasped all the power that had flowed out during the chaos of the Smoke Mirror and Mickett's rampage. Strands of iridescent light converged, and the life force transformed from the [Dream Flower] shimmered within her fist.
The power of her attack, through absorption and transformation, has been increased to the level of [1.2 times that of a standard main god]! If it weren't for the chaos surrounding Smoke Mirror and Micket, Kallen would never have been able to easily organize such power.
Faced with the smoke mirror locked by Mickett, Karen combined that energy with her full strength and then punched it into its heart!
"Smoke Mirror, go for it!"
Whoa!
Having absorbed and transformed the energy overflowing from Smoke Mirror and Mikk, and combined with Kallen's own divine power, this punch possessed a force that no flesh-and-blood body could withstand. Even though Smoke Mirror was a supreme god and possessed a body modified to the highest level, it would still suffer severe injuries from this punch.
As a large amount of blood, fragments of internal organs, and nectar of the dead gushed from his mouth, Smoke Mirror had to admit that he was in deep trouble today.
After taking Karen's heavy punch, His three-meter-tall body was blasted away from the tree wall and back into the lake full of underworld mud, landing on the former Aztland Island. It exploded like exploding shit, sending mud flying everywhere, and lay shamefully and miserably in the mud.
But He is not dead yet.
Even though Kallen's punch had nearly killed Him, even though that punch could have killed the former Adam Cardmont, even though that punch had shattered His divine power, Smoke Mirror was still alive. His divine power was collapsing, his body was mangled, yet he was still alive. His scattered cells… well, he might not even have "cells" at all; anyway, the scattered mud would reassemble into His body.
Kallen regrouped her power and pursued several rainbow-colored beams, shattering Smoke Mirror's body, but it quickly reformed. This sight made Kallen wonder: Could Smoke Mirror also possess an immortal body like a fallen angel?
Then she realized something else—if the Smoke Mirror's true form was actually the entire ecosystem of the South American continent, then it seemed to be something that was indeed not easy to completely kill.
However, at the same time, Mickett wasn't thinking about all that. Even though Smoke Mirror was shoved into the mud, she still wouldn't let go, determined to beat the already severely injured Him to death.
Just as Smoke Mirror had barely managed to stand up again from the lake and mud, Mikt crashed down from the sky like a meteorite, slamming Him back into the necromantic mud, suppressing Him, and burning Him to death with his own burning soul flames!
"Ah! Miktikashiva, don't push your luck!"
Under these circumstances, the Smoke Mirror ceased maintaining its three-meter-tall obsidian giant battle form, suddenly disintegrating into a cloud of smoke that broke free from Mickett's grasp. Crackling bolts of electricity emanated from the smoke. Then, this cloud of smoke, crackling with electricity, rapidly transformed into dark flames, and finally into a blazing black sun.
In ancient Aztec mythology, the Smoke Mirror possessed many different forms and transformations. It could transform into a ferocious leopard or a giant eagle—but its strongest form, its most powerful essence, was undoubtedly the black sun that reflected all things.
However, Mikket is now also a sun, a white underworld sun burning itself. The two suns, black and white, wrestled in the mud—it sounds comical, but the aftershocks of their power are truly godlike. Flames explode, cracking the earth's crust; calamity scorches, creating fissures in the tectonic plates. The earth is about to be burned into a thousand miles of scorched earth.
If they continue fighting like this, regardless of who wins, the entire South American continent will likely be devastated. The aftershocks of a battle between gods clearly have that kind of power.
Fortunately, just as Karen was rebuilding her strength and trying to contain the aftershocks with [Dream City], Hayden finally returned from the artificial underworld.
As the power of the artificial underworld gradually weakened, he finally managed to break free from the sea of the dead and rescue the remaining four hundred people before rushing to the scene.
Karen pointed to the battlefield, which had been transformed into a huge crater, and asked, "Hayden, if you have any other good ideas, you'd better come up with them quickly."
“Uh,” Hayden rubbed his temples, “I do have an idea. But my last idea just failed, are you sure you want to try my next one?”
"If we don't try the next one, won't we fail forever?" Karen raised an eyebrow. "Don't you think before you speak?"
Right.
Fortunately, Hayden and Karen didn't need much communication to begin with. Hayden said a few words, and Karen immediately understood his intention, joining his plan without further prompting. She began absorbing the divine power scattered during the battle between the Smoke Mirror and Micket, channeling it into the countless tree roots of [Dream Flower City]. These trees immediately burst forth from the lakeside soil, multiplying and stretching endlessly, encircling the two suns, one black and one white.
Meanwhile, Hayden stood on the wall of [Dream Flower City], stretching out his arms, allowing the energy transformed by the earth and plants to flow into his body.
Then he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
A person's breath is their life, returning it to the world little by little. Hayden inhaled and exhaled his own life, rising and falling with the thunderous drumbeats in his chest.
Breathe.
As Hayden exhaled, he infused the secret fire of life into the roots of the tree in [Dream City].
At the same time, Kallen unleashed her divine power, blasting the [Five-Colored Divine Light] into the tidal wave of undead. Accompanied by their angry shrieks, the secret fire of life mixed billions of scattered undead with the black sunfire from the Smoke Mirror, melting them into mud.
This mixture of life and death seeped into the soil of South America... and then the root system of the "Dream Flower City," which covered the entire land, swallowed it up.
Although Smoke Mirror was initially busy fighting with Mickett, he quickly felt his energy dwindling. He hurriedly used a break in the battle to scan the area with his mind and finally realized what Hayden and his wife were up to outside. He was immediately shocked: "How is this possible?! It's one thing to absorb a little of my scattered power, but how could they absorb my main body?!"
"Your divine authority has been shaken, and your divine power has been weakened. You have devoured your current people and allowed the past to gnaw and burn within you. You have abused the magic of debt, manipulated contracts, and tried to escape the earth and avoid all consequences, yet you do not believe that there is any inescapable retribution that will come after you and bite your ass."
Hayden, while weaving secret fire and spells, muttered complaints from afar.
"Your own power is attacking itself, and you still want to ask why it was captured and absorbed?"
Now, Micket isn't using external force to fight Smoke Mirror, but rather Smoke Mirror's own internal force. Its power is already in complete disarray.
As Smoke Mirror previously stated, His power is like water, like mist—intangible, yet capable of spreading and coalescing at will. Fighting Him is like fighting a tsunami, fighting water. Any classical magician knows that one should not fight water. The highest good is like water; water is not an enemy to be fought against.
In that case, Hayden helped Him flow, like water flooding a forest and being absorbed by the forest, allowing Him to flow into a vessel that He could control, transform, and influence.
As the energy of the Smoke Mirror was gradually absorbed by [Dream Flower City], its ego and wisdom began to decline rapidly, just as the ancient land god would lose its soul without blood sacrifice.
"No no no no!"
Seeing that the situation was really bad, Smoke Mirror finally panicked.
In desperation, He had a sudden inspiration and quickly turned to Mikt, shouting something that might be helpful: "Don't do this, Mikt Tikashiva! You want that little clone to have a future, but this world is about to be destroyed by the Outer Gods! If this continues, none of us will have a future!"
"Let me go, let me escape to Sagittarius Alpha as originally planned, recreate a new world, use everyone's life codes to reconstruct minds and bodies—only then will your clones have a future! As long as we get through this, I'll give you as many lives as you want!"
Mickett raised an eyebrow, but his hands didn't stop moving at all: "Really? So after I send you to Sagittarius Alpha and recreate a new world, you still want to be the king of gods and ride on my head?"
"Of course not!" Smoke Mirror quickly shook his head. "You see, this time it really proves that I'm old. Once we reach Sagittarius Alpha, I'll immediately hand over all the power of the new world to you. For an old thing like me, just let me keep breathing!"
This finally made Mickert laugh: "Really? You're so generous—but I don't want it!"
Before she could finish speaking, she had already reached out and grabbed the smoke goggles. Although He was now a black sun, it was as if Micket was choking Him, and even more forcefully.
"Fool. You're about to die and you still don't understand. Do you think I'm fighting you so that 'I' can obtain the future?"
she sneered.
White flames flowed continuously from her body, rushing into the dark sun in the smoke mirror, canceling out His divine power.
“Nooooooooooooooo!!!”
Even a sudden inspiration was useless; facing imminent death, Smoke Mirror struggled desperately, wailing in despair. As the god of the South American ecosystem, He clearly (and quite naturally) did not want to die. To avoid death, He was willing to do anything; to avoid death, He was willing to give up anything.
But there was no way—no way! Death had already seized him. Every second, Smoke Mirror could feel his own self rapidly disappearing under the burning of the soul fire (and the energy absorption of the surrounding Dream Flowers). He and Micket were both condensations of countless souls and consciousnesses. As these things were burned away, he could even feel his memories fading, his consciousness blurring, his self shattering, and his intelligence declining, unable to think of any more brilliant solutions.
At the same time, Mickett's power was clearly dwindling.
She was burning away the entire artificial underworld, which was essentially her own soul. Cracks were gradually appearing on her skin, and even the color of her hair was fading. The explosive power she gained by burning the underworld was waning. Soon her ego would dissipate, and besides, she never had a true soul to begin with.
If this continues, Mickett's self will burn out and disappear along with Smoke Mirror's self, ceasing to exist.
This outcome was actually predetermined the moment she decided to ignite the artificial underworld. Because Mickett was determined to use everything in her power to end the world as it is today.
"I'm not reconciled! I'm not reconciled to dying at the hands of something I created!"
In the very end, sensing his own self beginning to dissipate, an expression of utter despair appeared on Smoke Mirror's face, yet he still harbored resentment.
"Now that things have come to this, I need to understand at least one thing! You call me stupid, but why did you choose to die with that little clone?! At least give me an explanation!"
As He uttered His final words, the spirit of the Smoke Mirror began to dissipate. He, who had lingered for thousands of years, was indeed destined to return to nothingness. The same was true for Mickett.
If this were in a comic or a story, Miktiti Kashiva's last words, her final answer to this question, would likely be profound and wondrous, serving as a summary of their long lives and the core of her beliefs and motivation.
"Go to hell, you old bastard."
However, Micket directly crushed the consciousness of the Smoke Mirror.
The next second, a bright light illuminated the sky.
Just as a torch bursts open before burning out, Mickett also unleashed her last, most dazzling light before completely extinguishing herself.
She was clearly the sun of the underworld, the goddess of vampires, but in the final moments of her immortal life, she shone with the colors of dawn.
It was as if a colossal tree, instantly imprinted with the weight of a thousand years, had absorbed immense energy and reached out towards the boundless sky. Dawn transformed into countless slender branches, covering the celestial sphere that had been blackened by the smoky mirror. Golden shockwaves were released, sweeping across the heavens and earth.
Even the karmic consequences accumulated over millennia paled in comparison to its radiance. The black mist and underworld mud vanished instantly.
The light of dawn illuminates the earth, shining upon the ravaged island of Aztland. As the Dream Flower transforms and grows, the vibrant green, a testament to life, becomes increasingly clear, allowing the entire ground to breathe once more. Looking up, the bright, clear daylight has arrived.
There are no undead here, no evil gods, nothing to be afraid of.
Only the consumed god of the past sat on the ground, gazing blankly at the sky, letting the warm sunlight shine on him.
Night had turned to day.
Therefore, the story of the gods of the past should also come to an end.
365: Goodbye
Night had turned to day.
The warm sunlight shone on the ruined island of Aztland. The buildings that once stood there, all life, were destroyed in the tsunami of the dead.
But the [Dream Flower] is also transforming and growing here. Centered on the former circular ritual site, all pollution, from the clouds in the sky to the ground beneath our feet, is being absorbed and purified. Seven-colored flowers are blooming in the city that was once devoured by the undead. The streets and buildings that were just moments ago relentlessly invaded and seized by the undead are now covered with vibrant flowers.
Miktikahiva sat upside down on a lawn covered in flowers, gazing blankly at the sky and the golden sun.
The necromancy that constituted her self had been completely burned away. Rather, it was a miracle that she could defeat Smoke Mirror simply by being completely burned away. Now, her body was covered in fine cracks, and it was melting like ice in the sunlight.
A few seconds later, Hayden teleported over, raised his staff towards Mickett, and cast a healing spell.
But it was no use. Mickett's body continued to dissipate rapidly. With the husk of her god-level potential power crumbling, death for her was both a slow and inevitable process.
Mickett half-opened his eyes and smiled slightly: "Hayden, don't waste your energy saving me."
"Shut up," Hayden clicked his tongue. "Otherwise, you'll only make me waste more of my energy."
It's acceptable for Mickett to follow her own will and perish together with Smoke Mirror, but Hayden is determined to save lives. Watching someone instinctively try to help but slowly and painfully die after the battle is something Hayden absolutely cannot accept.
So he spoke, "Secret Fire, the powerful light of the soul, shine upon her, soothe all pain and curses, and ignite the flame of her life!"
Hayden's words, delivered with the "Sword of Words," immediately connected with a great, unseen power. Through Hayden's words, something extremely hot and dazzling was instantly injected into Mickett's body, immediately slowing his dissipation.
...but it only slows down the speed.
"!? How could this be?"
Hayden had thought that since Mickett hadn't completely disappeared, he would have a way to bring him back, but he never expected that there would be a time when he couldn't save someone.
At the same time, Karen flew over. She glanced at Mickett's current condition and immediately frowned: "This is really troublesome."
Why did she say that? Because Hayden and his group's initial plan to get involved in these South American affairs was to join forces with the Smoke Mirror Company to deal with Mitra. Now that Smoke Mirror is dead, almost all the South American gods are gone. Aztland Island, its ecosystem, and the artificial underworld have all been burned to ashes. If Mikter also disappears completely, Hayden and his group will have come up empty-handed this time.
Let Isham take over? She's not capable of handling it right now, and besides, Smoke Mirror Company doesn't have many resources left.
“What’s there to be unhappy about, Karen?” Micket noticed Karen’s gaze and curled his lip. “You’ve essentially slaughtered the entire South American pantheon. That’s an achievement on par with Mithra’s four hundred years ago. Just talking about it is enough to garner power for you.”
Strictly speaking, this isn't entirely untrue. Heroes and gods gain power through their great deeds. In other words, it's not that one is powerful enough to slay gods and demons, but rather that one becomes powerful by slaying them—this logic is twisted, but it makes sense in classical magic, and sometimes even in modern times.
Because power, some of it is real, while some is merely an illusion. And in magic, the illusions and bubbles of power can be used as if they were real.
"Besides that, there's no more vampire who's after your husband. You should be happy."
Micket said this without any reservations.
"You're really bold," Karen retorted, then sighed, "Never mind, I don't argue with dead people."
She could also tell that Miket was beyond saving.
“That’s right, I’m going to die.” Mickett smiled slightly. “Although I’m going to die, I don’t have many regrets. After all, I’ve never known why I’m living. I just want to keep existing and keep my life going.”
“But now, even if I die, at least my life can continue in another form.” Saying this, she turned to Hayden and said meaningfully, “Hayden, that child carries my life within her. Please help me protect her.”
Hayden frowned as well: "Of course I'll protect her. But I thought you really disliked Isham."
“I hate her. I envy her, I envy her terribly. The undead have no future, only the past and the present. This is both our fortune and our greatest curse.” Mickett closed his eyes. “What a nonsensical, childish brat. Why is it that she lives on, and not me? Why does she have a future, and not me?”
"But after thinking it over, in the end... I still want to let her live."
It's a very complex emotion. I feel jealous, I hate, I despise this "other self"... but at the same time, another emotion is telling me: she has a better chance of surviving than I do.
This is perfectly normal. Human nature is always complex. Whether human or divine, if we could simply let go of things, we wouldn't live such difficult lives.
“I’ve never dreamed, but she can. So Hayden, you have to create a better world than this one… a world where even such a silly girl can live peacefully and even realize her dreams.”
“I will do it, and I was going to do it anyway.” Hayden nodded. “I understand what you’re saying… although I may not have fully grasped the true meaning yet.”
The feelings between parents and children are always complex, especially since Mikkeltai and Isham can't really be considered mother and daughter. Jealousy and disgust should have meant there was no love at all (after all, they were just lost clones), but in the end, Mikkeltai still had a complicated and hesitant wish that "she could live," "that she could no longer be me," and "that she could exist in a more hopeful world," to the point that she burned herself out for it.
In reality, whether it's humans or gods, there's probably no evidence to prove that each generation is better than the last. Is the next generation always reliable? That's wishful thinking.
Miktikashiva, like Isham, was a rather foolish creature.
But Hayden could understand, even though he was only a half-baked father, he could still understand this kind of foolishness and tenderness.