Madness

The people of the Holy City had once debated what kind of statue should be erected at the city gates. Their original plan was to create one modeled after the First City Lord, but they worried that since the gods had protected them since the city's founding, doing so might incur divine displeasure.

Deciding which god to sculpt became another issue. The deity of prosperity ensured their land yielded enough grain every year to last for several more, the deity of wisdom constantly passed down new crafts to make their lives more vibrant, and the God King granted them protection and light...

After a long period of deliberation, they finally decided to combine the most significant features of all the gods into a single sculpture at the gates of the Holy City. This was the Angel statue that would appear countless times in Li Yue’s memories in the future.

However, gods were often not as petty as humans imagined; they would not bring down severe punishment or curses just because of some unintentional human act.

Li Yue’s figure appeared in the sky. The deity known as Madness had not yet descended, but that Angel seemed to have manifested into reality, appearing high above the world. It carried an extremely complex divine aura, and at that moment, the mental state of those believers who still clung to their past faiths in self-delusion finally collapsed.

It was a grotesque, complex amalgamation. The souls of gods that had not yet fully dissipated were kneaded together like clay to create a twisted monster devoid of any aesthetic beauty—a far cry from the mercy and compassion shown by the statue in the Holy City.

Li Yue’s eyebrows twitched slightly as she struggled to control her rising anger. She clenched her fists tightly, then relaxed them as if letting out a sigh of frustration. She donned her crown, took up the staff that served as the key to the Underworld, and gripped the blood sword that symbolized death. She raised her hand slightly, and for a fleeting moment, the Underworld and the human realm connected. With that, the ritual to become Death was complete.

The blood-red eyes across her body opened one by one. First, a single golden vertical pupil appeared within her scarlet gaze, which then rapidly transformed into the Sacred Mark of Death. She pointed her pitch-black claws toward the sky, and the heavens—suspended between light and darkness—instantly turned a shade of deep crimson.

The people who had been fleeing and screaming fell silent. They looked up at the figure in the sky and knelt devoutly, each expressing their piety in their own way.

“The curse of death has taken form,” Li Yue chanted softly. Facing this soul-amalgamation, which she had failed to slay thousands of years ago, she felt a wave of apology and sorrow. However, these overflowing emotions were quickly suppressed by her divinity. The vast Death Abyss began to construct an entirely new world—a world where death was under her absolute control.

Li Yue used her own methods to analyze the concept of Re-creation, an act achievable only by beings above the level of a God King. What she created now was a world where no living being could survive; all existence would turn to dust and vanish. She was attempting to break through her own tier.

Death was not merely the act of dying; it could also be an existential paradox—the declaration of a concept’s non-existence. However, it was clear she had failed this time. The figure of flesh and blood before her eyes was slowly turning to ash and scattering, and all the forged artifacts held by those countless reaching hands crumbled into nothingness.

Pitch-black lightning arced through the air. Amidst peals of thunder, the angel-like divine amalgamation began to dissipate. Magic spells mastered by different gods flared up from its body, only to be annihilated by Li Yue’s death magic.

In the past, they had possessed authorities and artifacts, fighting the newly ascended and fate-blessed Li Yue to a stalemate where both sides suffered. But now, they had lost everything. Even their physical forms had completely rotted away and been absorbed by humans, leaving only broken souls to be crafted into such a terrifying and disgusting shape by that sovereign of Madness in these final moments.

Just looking at it was enough to cause many people’s minds to shatter, leading them to die in extreme terror.

The descending horror was indeed powerful, but it seemed it wasn't quite as strong as the Calamity Warlocks had imagined. Conversely, Li Yue’s power appeared to far exceed their expectations. Everything seemed to be proceeding too peacefully; there was no sign of the world-shattering clash between two God King-level entities they had feared.

“Is... is it over?” someone couldn't help but ask. Even Clo let out a small sigh of relief, her hand slowly dropping from her chest. If it ended here, an uninjured Li Yue could return to her side. Their mundane daily life could continue, lasting longer than eternity itself.

“At what point is the story now?”

“The beginning,” Li Yue replied to the voice echoing from the void. She exerted a slight pressure with her hand, and it felt as though the entire Underworld was invading the human realm. The distance between the two worlds vanished instantly; the Underworld even seemed to rise as the River of the Dead surged from the earth’s core and began to spread toward the sky.

People could see their recently deceased relatives and the Stygian Beach that had never been described in any ancient book. Everything continued to ascend until the Underworld stood as a barrier above the human world. The people hadn't even reacted to what was happening.

In the next instant, a dim, sallow light pierced the sky. A massive eye tore through the heavens, as if the sky itself were a falsehood—nothing more than a drooping eyelid while the entity dozed. Now, it had woken up and was opening its eye to gaze upon the world.

Its gaze caused the waters of the River of the Dead to boil. Even through the protection of the river, that gaze turned those who couldn't resist looking into heaps of grotesque flesh.

“So, you’ve decided I’m a more interesting toy?” Li Yue remained suspended in mid-air, her hand trembling slightly as she gripped the blood sword. She watched the countless tentacles tearing at the world and sensed a momentary flicker of playfulness in the god’s eye.

It was actually conscious... It wasn't just acting on instinct... That made things even more difficult... and even more damnable...

Li Yue took a deep breath. She felt the shape of her soul being kneaded at will. If her consciousness wavered for even a second, she would become the next doll used to spread madness throughout the secular world.

“You’re even stronger than the limits I imagined,” Li Yue murmured softly. Her world was collapsing, and everything seemed to be sliding irrevocably toward destruction and madness...

Was it all about to end?