Steel City.
This most prosperous city of the South Wizard Alliance had long since become a ruin.
A large number of Wizard Monsters were occupying the territory. In the early stage of the disaster, they had attacked all the buildings and people in the area.
The streets of Steel City reeked of desolation.
Most of the Wizards were now gathered in the southern suburbs.
Dark Phoenix was sitting on top of a small Wizard Tower.
Her brain was now connected to the consciousness of countless Wizards. This was a huge burden on her because Wizards had stronger minds than common followers.
But everything had advantages and disadvantages. Influencing Wizards would gain a lot more benefits than attracting ordinary people.
A Fate Tablet fragment was faintly discernible in front of her chest and was protecting her will.
Above her head, large void images gradually congealed. As they were refined by the Divine Fire, many indescribable incantations emerged from within. These incantations were imperfect and very messy, but they were the foundations Dark Phoenix relied on to ascend!
Once the runes and incantations were arranged, Dark Phoenix would completely control the Magic Godhood!
In the process of ascending, there were two big hurdles.
First was collecting enough followers.
Second was quickly controlling one's Godhood.
Generally, when a Legend ascended to Godhood, they would choose a Godhood that matched their Domain.
A Barbarian insisting on ascending to the [Art] Godhood would find it extremely difficult. And although it wasn't completely impossible, the countless failed ascensions at the start of the 3rd Era were a constant reminder to those that followed.
Even though Dark Phoenix didn't have just one Fate Tablet fragment, she still chose Magic as her Godhood.
First, she took advantage of the Great Calamity to convince a large number of transformed Wizards to become her followers. Next, she needed to quickly consolidate her Godhood.
With the current pace, she would successfully get a hold of her own Godhood in about three days.
Gods' Domains were complicated. Although Dark Phoenix made thorough preparations, after the ritual began, many variables would appear.
She was doing her best to influence her followers while also working hard to master her Godhood. Using her magic comprehension to refine the Laws of Magic inside the Fate Tablet fragment was a very arduous task.
Currently, she really was at her weakest.
Thus, she made the army of Wizard Monsters attack White River Valley. She knew that Marvin wouldn't be too worried about the Wizard Monsters, but he still valued his territory and his citizens very much. He would definitely be held back in White River Valley.
'It'll be good if they can hold them back for a day,' Dark Phoenix thought.
Below her, there were numerous Wizards.
These Wizards were snarling and their eyes were completely red, but under the restriction of her Divine Might, they couldn't move.
They were all 3rd rank or higher. Some of them were even Half-Legends!
After starting the ritual, Dark Phoenix gathered almost all of these stronger Wizards.
She acted intimidating while at the same time giving them hope, trying to get them to become her followers.
But it looked like she had underestimated the stubbornness of these Wizards.
Some of them would rather turn into monsters than become her servants!
Dark Phoenix was enraged by these fools!
She had a very simple solution for those people...
"Pop."
A low bursting sound echoed.
A Wizard in the crowd exploded in a shower of blood!
The Wizards at his sides let out some sounds of unease but they couldn't do anything.
They already weren't able to protect their minds from the attack of the Chaos Magic Power.
If not for Dark Phoenix using the Fate Tablet fragment to give them time to make a choice, they would have already degenerated!
"It's not shameful to acknowledge me. It's actually an honor."
"It would be a great honor to become a Goddess' servant. Just like them."
Dark Phoenix pointed at the group of more than a dozen Wizards on the closest tower.
That was the first wave of converted followers and three of them were Legend Wizards!
These three were all higher-ups of the South Wizard Alliance. In the past, Dark Phoenix had manipulated them secretly. It wasn't strange for them to become her followers now.
The others ranged from 3rd rank to Half-Legend rank and were also very powerful.
After becoming her followers, Dark Phoenix generously gave the strongest of them positions as the Magic Goddess' Divine Servants.
It had to be known that each God only had a limited number of spots for Divine Servants. Every God treasured their Divine Servants' spots, just like they did for Apostles' spots.
A God with a Level 64 Divinity (High Divine Power) only had 32 spots available for Divine Servants.
Dark Phoenix was still early in the process of ascending. Her Divinity was constantly increasing and had reached Level 12 Divinity (Medium Divine Power), which was only enough to have 6 positions for Divine Servants. And she used them all up. It could be considered a huge gamble.
But she made this gamble because she currently needed protection.
These Divine Servants would be the best guardians. Gods and their Divine Servants were closely linked.
If a Divine Servant died, the God would suffer damage.
If the God fell, the Divine Servants would definitely die!
Thus, the Divine Servants would do everything they could to protect the God they served.
Naturally, in return, these servants would be granted a considerable amount of Divine Power. In general, even a newly advanced Divine Servant would have the abilities of a weak Half-God.
The wave of Wizards that got converted into followers first could already move freely.
They spread out according to Dark Phoenix's arrangements.
Dark Phoenix had already placed a lot of spells near the tower, but having people scout directly would be a lot better.
How could she have expected that just as her followers dispersed, she would feel a violent pain from the south!
A Divine Servant had been instantly killed!
'South!'
'How could this be!'
Dark Phoenix suddenly opened her eyes.
Far in the distance, a tall man was dragging a Divine Servant's body behind him as he softly walked closer.
O'Brien. Only he could so easily kill a Half-Legend Wizard who had become a Divine Servant!
Behind him, a few more silhouettes appeared.
Constantine, Lorant, Owl.
Upon seeing all of them, Dark Phoenix's heart beat crazily fast as she wondered, 'What about Marvin?'
'And the others?'
'Could it be a sneak attack?'
Dark Phoenix immediately raised her vigilance!
She was currently at her weakest. If Marvin attacked her, she might truly fall.
Her gaze was somewhat heavy. The transformed Wizards near the tower were growling restlessly!
She was already having a hard time suppressing them!
'Since you dare to come, then die!'
'There is only one end for those who dare to stand against me.'
Dark Phoenix gave the restrained Wizards a stern look.
The next second, a considerable portion of the Wizard Monsters gasped. They lost their minds again as they rushed to attack the four Legends!
O'Brien didn't seem worried as he charged in to kill the Wizard Monsters!
But the pressure this time was a lot higher.
Heavenly Deer Lorant kept using Celestial Holy spells to add holy halos to his allies while also using spells that would reduce the effect of the Magic Power transformation on these Wizards.
Constantine and Owl chose to roam around the battlefield making opportunistic attacks. O'Brien took care of the front line, and the two weren't specialized in fighting head-on. It was fine when fighting 2nd rank Wizard Monsters, but now the army of Wizards was a whole rank stronger. One lucky spell and they could be crushed to death.
A messy battle broke out.
The fight in the southern suburbs of Steel City wasn't easy for the Legends' 4-man team. It was a slow and bitter struggle.
These Wizard Monsters weren't ordinary Wizards!
They were all 3rd rank or higher, and with the effect of the Chaos Magic Power, their spells were basically twice as strong.
After a while, even O'Brien started dodging instead of meeting the spells head-on.
That guy had dared to fight with the Molten Overlord and the Azure Matriarch!
But facing this swarm of frightening Wizard Monsters, he started to show signs of weariness.
In spite of this, they didn't retreat, they kept fighting!
Dark Phoenix's doubts kept increasing.
Clearly, Marvin had settled White River Valley's predicament. Otherwise, he would have needed these Legends to help protect his territory instead of attacking.
What about Marvin himself? And the remaining Legends? Inheim? The Migratory Bird Council's people? That gay Prince from Thousand Leaves Forest?
Where had those guys gone?
Could they still be scheming something?
Her mind grew increasingly uneasy and unstable.
At that time, she realized that another thread broke!
Her expression became livid.
Another Divine Servant!
This one wasn't a Legend either, but he had been the strongest Half-Legend.
At that time, Dark Phoenix reacted.
'They want to kill my followers! And especially the converted ones, in order to make me lose Divine Power!'
'These four Legends are only here to attract my attention.'
'Marvin went with the other Legends to kill off my followers!'
Upon realizing this, Dark Phoenix quickly sent out a mental order.
All those converted followers were to immediately retreat back to the southern suburbs of Steel City!
After giving that command, Dark Phoenix regained her composure.
She even had a smile on her face.
Marvin's actions proved that he was afraid.
He didn't dare to fight her upfront and tried to weaken her instead.
Unfortunately for him, she was getting stronger over time!
She could already somewhat reach the entire continent, and she wasn't influencing only Wizards, but also ordinary people. It was just that they were relatively weaker.
With time, she would get more and more followers and her Divine Power would skyrocket.
At that time, Marvin would die without even knowing what hit him!
In the northern part of Steel City, Marvin was looking regretfully at the Legend Divine Servant retreating. He shook his head lightly as he grumbled, "It seems she saw through our first plan. Time to implement our 2nd plan."
Endless Ocean was at his side, with a look full of worry. "But Sir Inheim is still not back."
"A large Devil army appeared in the northern part of the Supreme Jungle. The Migratory Bird Council is lacking people. Only I can help."
"Even Thousand Leaves Forest seems to have been attacked by the Evil Spirits. Prince Ivan might not be able to catch up."
"If we start the second plan, wouldn't we be lacking manpower?"
Marvin took a deep breath and resolutely said, "It's enough."
"What if it's not enough?" Endless Ocean didn't seem reassured.
"Whatever happens, Dark Phoenix will die today!"
Rocky Mountain, Hope City.
Under the blessing of the flame of Order, the waves of chaos didn't spread to this place.
Although Hope City was populous, thanks to the protection of the three sisters, it was still as quiet as usual.
The sisters were standing next to each other on the city wall, looking at the shadow in the distance.
After some time, Jessica seemed to have made a decision.
"I hand Hope City over to you. I can't watch a potential husband throw away his life, right?"
Lorie stuck her tongue out and rolled her eyes in dissatisfaction.
Kate's face was full of worry.
Jessica was very powerful, but this time she would be facing a Goddess.
Fate Sorceresses were always the targets of the Gods' jealousy.
"Be careful."
Kate thought for a moment but could only say that in the end.
All she could do was protect this city on behalf of Jessica.
Jessica's decision couldn't be changed.
She took a step forward and stopped. She moved back and grabbed that chubby thing from Kate's shoulder. "I'll borrow Ding."
Jessica then disappeared into the sky while Ding was protesting.
North. A bloodstained girl lifted her head with some effort.
The three holy swords on her back seemed to shine even more brightly as if they were filled with bloodthirst.
"A Goddess…" The girl said in a low voice, "It's the first God in Feinan ever since the start of the 4th Era."
"I want to go kill her."
"You don't mind?" she asked those behind her.
The five servants remained silent.
Taking that as acquiesence, she exerted her power and began to rush through the North's wasteland like lightning!
What was even stranger was that those five servants wearing cuffs were able to keep up with the Valkyrie's speed!
The six bolts of light flashed toward the South.
Fearlessly rushing toward the Goddess.
In the Millennium Mountain Range.
A girl that looked about ten years old walked out of a forest.
Her eyes were focused on that shadow in the sky.
After a while, she mumbled, "Such a disgusting feeling."
"She is my enemy right?"
A wrinkled old lady behind her sighed, "You still haven't finished the last ritual."
"You should stay safe for now and you…"
But she was interrupted.
"I don't care."
The girl casually plucked a leaf from a tree, and in a blink, the leaf turned into ashes.
"I am the Queen of Ashes, the last successor of the Anzed Witch Ruler."
"No one can stop me. It is the same even if you are my mother."
"It's the same for that woman."
A plume of flames burst out from her body.
She rose into the sky and flew into the distance.
"I was reborn from ashes."
"But my enemies will turn to dust."
The girl's voice seemed somewhat immature, but it felt incomparably domineering!
"I am Hathaway, the Queen of Ashes!"
"No one can stop me."
"Not even Gods!"