Mithras had previously told his subordinates that the energy the angels used to heat the world was directly related to the discontent, resentment, and anger of the world's inhabitants. If the cycle of reincarnation were broken, the imprisoned and suffering souls released, and Raphael (the divine medicine) healed their anguish, the angels' firepower would diminish.
...Well, that's at least what Hayden told everyone.
As for whether that's really the case... well, that's what Hayden said anyway.
However, Mitra had already discussed the matter of angelic firepower with his middle management, and it wasn't considered a secret. Odin and the Mars Group could easily obtain this information through their inside sources.
Since both sides said so, everyone was basically skeptical. Since things had come to this point and there was no other way (no one could choose to side with Mithra), and it had reached a point where it was either you die or I die, Susanoo, Odin, Mars, and the others were basically willing to come and fight alongside Hayden.
As for what happens after the battle is over, that's another issue. If Mitra is successfully destroyed, who will inherit the vast resources left behind by Mitra? Who will be responsible for controlling Mitra's current facilities and systems? This includes the golden wall in Jupiter's orbit and the remaining dozens of spaceships.
Hayden had only one decision: "Karen, I can only entrust these matters to you."
“I’m willing to take on that responsibility,” Karen said, frowning. “But why do you say that? You sound really…”
It's not like Karen needs to say it out loud; you can probably understand the implication.
“Because I’m not cut out for it. I don’t have the aptitude or ambition to be a god, nor the talent to rule. I have some power now, but power alone doesn’t equate to being good at ruling.” Hayden shrugged. “Besides, I might not even make it back alive.”
This is what Karen is really worried about.
"...Hayden, are you saying this because of your prophetic intuition?"
She asked with great concern and seriousness. "If that's the case, then things are really serious."
Unexpectedly, Hayden shook his head and said, "No. In fact, my precognitive abilities can no longer foresee the outcome of this battle. Moreover... I suspect that Mithra cannot see it completely either. The future outcome is an unfathomable mystery."
Strangely enough, although Hayden had predicted and arranged many things, all his precognitive abilities seemed to vanish when faced with the final outcome of the battle. In this particular matter, he could no longer foresee the future, nor could he see anything beyond it…
Hayden suspected that Mitra was like him. However, that might not be the case; it's truly impossible to know for sure.
"Since I can't predict it, I have to trust my feelings."
At this point, Hayden chuckled softly.
"Even if nothing happens to me, do you really think we can let so many dangerous resources in Mitra's hands fall into the hands of Odin or the Mars Group? They might be a little better than Mitra, but they're not exactly good people either. In order to compete with Mitra and each other, they eventually compromised and used oppressive and exploitative means to profit themselves for four hundred years. They are also the object of the people's resentment and hatred for four hundred years, just a little further down the list. The new world will not allow them to hold power again."
"So I have no choice but to entrust this to you. The next battle must be led by you to confront and defeat the main force of the Mitra lunar base. You must prove to them, to the whole world, that you are the dragon slayer and that you are worthy of becoming the new leader of the land."
Karen could indeed understand and agree with Hayden's thoughts. Normally, she wouldn't hesitate for a second. However, at this moment, perhaps because of what Hayden had just said, or perhaps because of the crushing defeat she had suffered yesterday, Karen suddenly felt a slight wavering in her confidence.
It was just a very slight tremor.
But Hayden keenly sensed this wavering: "Well, you see, I told you your will was wavering. Are you lacking confidence?"
“Okay, actually it’s just a little bit.” Karen closed her eyes briefly. “The last time I faced [Reincarnation], I failed, and my father saved me. And that was only yesterday. My father is gone now. If I had more time to think and crack the flaws in [Reincarnation], I would definitely be more confident. But now…”
This is a wavering that Karen would never reveal to outsiders; it's the deepest, most hidden vulnerability within her.
Only Hayden would think before answering when he heard her say such things. He thought for a while before saying, "Actually, it's a good thing to occasionally express some discouragement. You know I spent some time with Mithra four hundred years ago. Back then, I thought that people who claim to have an infinitely firm Daoist heart, who never turn back even after hitting a wall, and who never get discouraged or admit defeat, are all crazy."
“If you are like Mithra, I wouldn’t dare entrust you with this responsibility.”
After saying that, Hayden walked to the other side of the room, opened the window of the room in the building, and pointed to the city of New Sprouts downstairs and its millions of residents: "You see, although Mithra's Cycle is slowly enveloping the world, and although there are aliens in the sky and they have pulled out a black cosmic dome, the people of New Sprouts are not as fearful or numb as people in other places."
As Hayden stated, both he and Karen could see, with their heightened senses, many city residents moving about busily but efficiently. The Newsprout Free State lacked a combat-ready army (mainly because there wasn't enough time), so combat relied primarily on fortifications, barriers, non-combatant protoss support, and the gods themselves. For this expedition to attack the Mithra main base on the moon, the first three were useless, but the people of Newsprout City were still enthusiastically providing logistical support. The entire city was operating at full capacity.
"Although such a great upheaval is happening in the heavens, the people under your rule still have hope. They have great trust in the life and environment we have created for them, a belief that we can definitely solve the problem, and an enthusiasm to participate and work together with us. It's really interesting."
Hayden sighed as he finished speaking.
"Four hundred years ago, when the capitalist revolution had just begun, most people were like that too."
"But is this just a matter of changing times? I don't think so. There are many people in our city who suffered greatly and were oppressed in New Jersey, who abandoned their biological instincts, had no desire to reproduce, and even felt that there was no point in living. They were lucky enough to survive the fire in New Jersey."
"How long has it been since the New Jersey fire? Less than a year. Most of the survivors have completely changed their thoughts and beliefs. They have also found hope here. They have gone from being desperate to wanting to live, to being able to live with hope. A few months is enough for human thinking to change completely."
"On the other hand, who is the leader they trust? Is it me? No, because I have always been relatively invisible to the public. The main leader who brings them hope is you. You are their new king. They have absolute faith in you, just as I have faith in you—you are the best woman in the world."
Hayden walked back from the window and gave Karen another big hug.
"If you are confused about yourself, don't trust yourself, trust your people. Mitra, Odin... they all had this problem. So you must never do that. If you don't even trust your own people, then you have no one else to trust."
Even though they were practically an old married couple, Karen's face still flushed slightly. She hesitated for a moment, then retorted, "When did you become so good with words?"
“Good question. It was probably created by the consciousness of all living beings within the time-space channel over four hundred years,” Hayden replied with a smile.
"Then this husband who speaks such sweet words to me will make me lead troops to attack a military base while he runs off to find other women."
"These are two different things. Besides, if I don't go to save Angela, the world might really be destroyed. If I really have to weigh these two things, then I have no choice but to abandon my pregnant wife."
Hearing this, Karen silently reached out and tapped Hayden again with a chop to the neck. However, she didn't think Hayden's words were wrong.
"Although you put it beautifully, in reality, I still have no way to counter Mitra's [Reincarnation]. Am I really going to have to improvise on the battlefield?"
Hayden stroked his chin: "Regarding this issue, I actually have two ideas, you can listen to them first. The first is about the problem you mentioned of not having enough time. The second... is about the children."
Karen, whose mood had just been rather sweet, immediately became displeased: "You're bringing this up again? I've already said it before, using a child's power to fight a war, dragging a child into the conflict, is unacceptable. Besides, this child isn't even born yet! Don't you have any conscience?"
“Well, of course I think the same way you do.” Hayden quickly pulled away to avoid the finger. “But a child should have its own thoughts. You know it’s not an ordinary child; it already has power and wisdom even before it was born. You want to protect it, but doesn’t it want to protect you? Are you going to ignore its love for you and its own choices?”
This time, Hayden finally managed to shut Karen up, leaving her speechless.
Karen is usually very reasonable. But when it comes to the child, her mind just can't handle the idea that the fetus in her womb wants to help fight; she just doesn't want to change her perspective.
Finally, though she turned her head away in anger, Karen still muttered, "………………Okay, I'll take that into consideration."
well.
"But after this battle is over, I definitely want to have a proper discussion with you about normal parenting issues."
"...Wife, don't make such a promise."
437: Ragnarok (Part 1)
"Many of us have never been friends."
"Some people are destined to be enemies forever."
"But in order to reclaim tomorrow from Mithras, we can set aside our prejudices and hostility towards each other today,"
"Together we fight against Mithra, who wants to control the whole world and even lead us all to our destruction."
"Today we may suffer heavy casualties, but if we lose our lives, it is all for the sake of a better tomorrow for our loved ones."
Karen was speaking. Her voice carried on the wind, her powerful words likely carrying clearly throughout the entire Allied Legion. The total force numbered one hundred thousand.
One hundred thousand, sounds a bit low? But the ultimate goal of this operation is to reach the moon, a powerful, one-shot strike, so quality over quantity is the key to strength.
Odin is the leader of the Norse god team of the Wotan Corporation. He wears a golden helmet, and his armor gleams. Thor stands beside him, clutching Mjolnir tightly in his hand.
The Roman gods of the Mars Group are, of course, led by Mars, the god of war. He is a fierce general clad in bronze armor, driving a two-wheeled chariot, with well-developed muscles and a handsome appearance, but he seems rather taciturn and has no intention of speaking.
There's also the remaining Yamato God race, which doesn't need to be mentioned again.
Their leaders watched silently as Karen delivered her pre-battle speech.
Not every new god gathered here is convinced of Kallen's worth. After all, Kallen is only in her early thirties, which is far too young. How could anyone willingly let Kallen take the position of leader of the allies? Moreover, she would definitely want to reap the biggest rewards afterward.
Then Karen said to them, “Only I have the experience of directly confronting [Reincarnation], only I have survived the attraction of [Reincarnation], only I have the way to break Mithraic [Reincarnation]. If you are not convinced and want to be sucked into [Reincarnation] and turned into flesh and blood, please do so.”
...That's not exactly what they said, but that's the gist of it. So in the end, the gods had no choice but to let Kallen take command. At least nominally, they wanted her to be the overall commander.
"War is cruel, and fate is even more uncertain," Karen continued, speaking in a language all three divine races could understand. "Our destiny is unknown. Perhaps we will indeed perish today..."
"...However, the timing is uncertain, and the same is true for Mithra! The dice may be cruel, but they are fair."
Here is an army that does not fully trust itself; there is a demonic Buddha attempting to brainwash the world.
Karen gazed at all of this, and then uttered her final words:
"Victory is indeed within our grasp. And I will lead you to seize it! Fate favors the brave!"
Fate favors the brave.
Whether in Northern Europe, Rome, or Yamato, their cultures all understood this principle. Many divine warriors responded with shouts, striking their weapons and shaking the earth.
Although Karen's leadership would make it difficult for them to reap the benefits, if they could defeat Mitra today, if they could ensure the world has a tomorrow, and if they could prevent anyone from reaping the benefits, then it would still be acceptable for the time being.
Former enemies temporarily set aside their prejudices and hatred. They were all willing to fight Mithra to the death for the sake of tomorrow.
It's time.
The final battle has begun.
◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆
Hayden was not in this group. He only watched Karen's pre-battle oath from afar, then smiled slightly and turned to leave Newbud City.
Accompanying him were only Alastor, who had previously promised to help him, and Pania, who for some reason was also with him.
"To be honest, I'd rather go over there." Pania looked at the massive army gathering in New Sprout City in the distance, a magnificent scene of their departure, and said with some sadness, "I feel that although it would be important to go with them, it would be easy to become a martyr."
“Becoming a martyr isn’t so bad.” Alastor said calmly, though it sounded terrifying. “I’ve experienced a lot in my life. If I die at the most crucial moment of the tower rush, it’s a true warrior’s ideal and a punk spirit.”
"But I'd rather be a hero, gain fame and glory, go home alive, be praised by the whole world, retire in a mansion, have two kids, and live a happy life."
Hearing their conversation from the side, Hayden couldn't help but chuckle. Then he said, "Don't be afraid, and don't get your hopes up too high. I won't plan anything to kill you both; that's not my style. If everything goes well, you two should both make it back alive. Probably."
He deliberately set a flag, and then Hayden raised his hand and snapped his fingers, teleporting all three of them to another location.
A place that at first glance seems to have nothing to do with dealing with Mithra and saving the world:
【Yellow Spring Country】
He actually snapped his fingers and teleported two people to the most unstable place in the world in terms of spacetime!
Asmodius remains sealed here, a massive red dragon with seven heads and ten horns, eight vajras piercing its body. However, her current condition doesn't look good. This once mighty demon lord now lies listlessly paralyzed in the deepest part of the Underworld, lying on the ground as if the power has been cut off… oh yes, she really has been cut off from the power!
“When Uriel first arrived in our universe, he extinguished the root fires of you fallen angels, instead of coming to bomb humanity first—based on this alone, I think the Outer Gods are relatively fair.”
Looking at Asmodeus's pained expression, Hayden laughed again: "How are you feeling, Asmodeus? I don't really understand the feelings of a fallen angel, but I guess you should understand what it means to live like a mortal now?"
"...Stop gloating here, Prophet." Despite having almost lost all his power, Asmodius's dragon eyes still burned with hatred and rage. "If you want to kill me, go ahead. If you don't intend to, don't bother me. Go and enjoy your last sweet moments before the end of the world."
The biggest difference between fallen angels and mortal races is that the former possess the primordial fire based on their true names, which prevents them from being completely killed. At most, they are killed to the point that their intelligence decreases, becoming roughly equivalent to that of a cat or dog—which isn't actually that low. Moreover, as long as they replenish enough primordial fire, their intelligence level will immediately recover.
Overall, this is a very powerful cheat, although it was not very useful during the war between the old and new gods four hundred years ago.
So, who could have predicted that Uriel, upon arriving in this universe, would first ban this fundamental cheat code? Asmodius has now lost her immortality and almost all of her energy. Forget Hayden, any Protoss could kill her with a knife (though an ordinary Protoss might need to stab her for a while longer).
"I'm sorry, I'm not here to kill you. You can lie here a little longer and experience the daily needs of mortals—hunger, heat, cold, sleep, fatigue, and so on." Hayden stroked his chin as he said this. "I guess if the Earth doesn't explode in the next few days, you'll soon realize how miserable humans are, and maybe you'll be less sarcastic in the future?"
"Then why don't you hurry up and save the world?" Asmotis said angrily, "What are you doing here causing trouble?"
“Just passing by. We have some things to do here to deal with Mitra and save the world.” Hayden shrugged. “Asmodius, you fallen angels are the root of all evil in the world. Uriel came over and tried to cut you off without saying a word, which is proof enough.”
“I refuse to accept your standards of judgment.” Despite being exhausted, weak, and in pain, Asmodius still managed to spit out a sentence through gritted teeth: “Even without fallen angels, even if you humans came to this planet yourselves, the nature of your race would inevitably lead to corruption.”
Is that so? Is that how it is? Maybe, but at this point, it's impossible for either side to prove themselves right, and it's impossible not to understand.
"It doesn't matter."
Because he didn't understand, Hayden decided not to dwell on it. He was ready to move on.
“I won’t kill you. Now I know there are things in this world more terrible than death. So I absolutely won’t kill you. You can stay here and continue lying there.”
After saying that, he turned to face the other things in the [Land of the Dead]—that is, the surrounding environment—glanced at it for a few moments, and then asked Pania and Alastor, "Do you think this environment is alright?"
“Absolutely.” Alastor smiled. “This will be the biggest and most interesting hacking job of my life.”
“Hmm, it’s definitely easy to sense things here.” Pania flapped her wings, sensing her surroundings, seemingly lost in thought. “But Uncle, isn’t it easy for your methods to backfire here? Are you sure it’s okay?”
“No problem. I’ll handle these minor issues,” Hayden said calmly. “Since there are no other problems, let’s get started. The joint forces on Karen’s side also need our cover.”
The two assistants immediately sprang into action. Alastor began casting spells and adjusting the spacetime rift to establish a more stable mental connection between the underground rift and the StarNet. Panya, meanwhile, began prying open the gate to the unconscious sea at the bottom of the astral plane.
What exactly are they doing? How can this help the invasion of Mitra's lunar base, rescue Angela, and save the world?
Now that things have come to this, we can finally reveal Hayden's original plan for "rushing into the lunar base and releasing Angela."
In short, it's actually very simple.
Mitra's lunar base, the group's headquarters, actually consists of "two" entities. One is the physical entity that everyone can see by looking up at the moon.
...The other one can only be seen by looking up in the StarNet.
Located at the very top of the [StarNet] space, the Mitra Group's network mainframe serves as the reference point for the Mitra lunar headquarters in cyberspace. The three demigods present possess the ability to traverse network cables. If they could simply storm the Mitra Group's mainframe, wouldn't they be able to exit directly from the Mitra lunar headquarters? Furthermore, if they coordinated with the material world's united forces under Kallen, they could create a significant weakness in the Mitra Group's defenses.
Alastor loved the idea. If it succeeded and saved the world, it would be the greatest and most legendary hacker achievement in history. However, Panya poured cold water on it after hearing about it: "Uncle, with just the two of you, trying to break through the firewall of the Mitra Corporation's mainframe using cyber operations and sneak in, I'm afraid it will be a bit difficult, won't it?"
“That’s right.” Hayden nodded and said, “Cyberattacks, like wars in the physical world, ultimately depend on the amount of resources available to determine the outcome, and we have far fewer cyber resources than the Mitra Group… Fortunately, I know where there are enough cyber resources available for our operation, and I even know how to break through the Mitra Group’s mainframe firewall.”
At this moment, Panya was helping Hayden open the door to those resources. She had done the same thing before, so she was skilled at it.