Since the gods had abandoned Humanity, he had not felt that familiar gaze in a very long ti, nor had he been at peace.
"This is the punishnt I deserve."
"At least, it is mine."
Releasing his grip, Cavi let the current carry him away under the incomprehensible stares of the people around him. As the torrent pulled him under the water, he closed his eyes silently and prayed in his heart.
"May the gods forgive ."
Cavi sank into the water, and gradually, he lost consciousness. However, at that mont, his state seed forever fixed.
'Death' was erased from him, and 'life' could no longer pass away. Maintaining this state of neither life nor death, he sank to the bottom, arriving directly at the center of The Temple.
There, it was where he had worshipped the gods countless tis.
······
"Finally, I have visited every place..."
Wiping the sweat from his brow, Nuo felt that ti had passed a bit slowly today, but now, he had let go of these doubts.
Along the way, he had t person after person, a few of whom believed in him, but many more did not, and he took every question they had to heart.
He had also wavered, for Deceit was not absent among Bronze Humanity, but even if there was only a sliver of hope, if it could allow more people to survive, he was still willing to try.
Now, the task he had set out to do was finished, and in The Sky above, a giant wave hundreds of ters high was crashing towards this place.
Now, it was ti to use his own life to test whether everything he had done had any aning.
"Born because of the gods, dying because of the gods, I truly hope that future Humanity, does not co from the hands of the gods."
"Perhaps it's quite good for Humans to live their own lives?"
With a bitter smile, standing on the empty street, facing the direction of the flood. With no place to hide and no intention to run, Nuo knelt on the ground and murmured softly.
"Oh gods, if you truly exist, please listen to :"
"I pray to You devoutly, I devoutly praise Your holy deeds."
"If every human who prays to You could survive this day, I am willing to spend the rest of my life spreading Your revered na in the Mortal Realm."
"May Your will be done on earth, just as it is done in Your kingdom."
The prayer rang out in the deserted streets, yet the waves did not stop for it. The mortal's fra was negligible before it, and when the giant wave struck, all traces vanished, leaving only the rubble of broken buildings floating on the surface to prove that anything had ever existed here.
This was already the central area of Aurora, and when it too was swallowed by the flood, not an inch of land could be seen in the great plain.
There was no land, only the waves and rapids, and before one's eyes lay only a world of ocean amidst the flashing of lightning, the rolling of thunder, and the pouring rain, with nothing else in sight.
Only at the edge of one's vision, there were still a few elevations. Those were mountain tops, but predictably, as the sea level continued to rise, they too would not escape.
"It seems my mission is over."
Standing beside Laine, looking upon this vast world of water, Humar set down his chisel. In front of him, the fourth painting was complete, depicting the apocalyptic scene of a world subrged by water.
However, amidst the flood, there were specks of light, standing out significantly against the peril of the apocalypse.
"Not yet."
Laine shook his head faintly, as if he were walking on the waves as easily as on flat ground, his expression as calm as ever.
Below the sea, a ritual track that had been etched long ago now began to glow, slowly starting to revolve. In theory, such a large and intricate ritual could easily be disrupted, but shielded by the endless waters, everything went unnoticed.
Of course, nothing could escape Laine's sight.
"If the destruction of Bronze Humanity has indeed ended, compared to what's left to do today, everything has only just begun."
"Use your stone carvings to record them, that is my promise to you."
Crack—
A clap of thunder resounded, and a lightning bolt illuminated the dim world. The elder noticed, on the distant sea, the Sea God's son who seed to control everything was watching them.
He stepped forward half a step and then stepped back, subsequently raising his steel trident.
"Your Excellency—"
Laine raised his hand slightly, stopping the elder mid-sentence. He knew what he wanted to say, but he just glanced over and advised in a faint voice:
"You have completed your task, Triton, as the gods commanded you, so everything shall return to the gods. Now lay it down and return to Olympus, to your Father God's side; that is the best choice for you right now."
Beneath the water, the ritual track had begun to revolve, a 'gateway' was being opened. The souls of all life on the plain were imprisoned within the Mortal Realm, still lingering in the Mortal World.
Though Laine was not in the Spirit Realm, he could 'see' that the large-scale death without the souls entering Samsara had finally caught the attention of the three goddesses, who had begun to investigate the source of this phenonon.
So now, he preferred to wait for the situation to unfold. As for Triton, to Laine, he was no different from the Bronze Humans who had just died.
As long as Triton retreated now, Laine wouldn't do anything.
Clearly, that's what he thought, but Triton did not agree.
"I will report back to my Father God, mortal, but that will be after dealing with the last two," Triton retorted.
In the face of Laine's 'advice', Triton only scoffed. At first, he didn't necessarily want to exterminate every person, especially since the two in front of him might also be related to Protheus. He could have offered the forethinking god a favor and left a few to survive, but now, things were different.
He knew the limitations the Mortal World imposed on the gods, so Poseidon must have paid a price for attacking from afar. To lessen his Father God's wrath later, Triton had no choice but to make the rest of the task as flawless as possible.
"Your companion has already been killed by my Father God, and now, it's your turn!"
Triton leaned back and then threw with force, and the Trident flew out. The remnants of Divine Power faintly locked onto the target; Triton believed mortals couldn't escape this kind of lock-on.
"Bla your bad luck, if anything."
"Protheus is gone; with such power, wouldn't it be good to simply live well? Why insist on opposing ?"
Triton snorted coldly as he watched the trident cutting through the air, feeling equally displeased.
No matter what, today's events were far from perfect. He needed to think about how to appease his Father God's wrath.
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