Hope...
Iluvia fell silent.
After Lilith and the other two swore their oaths and received Her blessing, it was equivalent to offering their bodies, minds, and everything they possessed to Her.
In other words, the three of them held no secrets in Her presence.
Iluvia could peer through their souls to search out the secrets hidden deep in their hearts and examine their entire pasts.
From their memories, She learned of the sanctions imposed on the human race by the gods after the War of the Gods, the suffering humanity had endured over the past millennium, and the changes that had reshaped the continent of Aenoria following that divine conflict.
Sighing inwardly, Iluvia's expression turned solemn.
Since She had become the new Goddess of Light, She had to shoulder the responsibilities that came with being the Goddess of Light.
“I am well aware of everything that has transpired over this past millennium. Since I have awakened, the light shall naturally shine upon this continent once more, angels shall inevitably return to the stage of civilization, and human civilization shall surely reclaim its past glory.”
A sacred, grand voice echoed.
“Are you willing to dedicate your entire lives to this, even if the road ahead is fraught with hardship?”
Hearing this, the three trembled slightly. Then, looking up at the glowing angel statue with ecstatic expressions, they spoke without a moment's hesitation:
“Praise the Lord God!” ×3
“I am willing to offer up my all.” ×3
Humanity had waited a full thousand years for this day!
Throughout these thousand years, some had died for their faith, while others had betrayed their oaths in despair;
some had guarded the sacred hall until their last breath, while others had succumbed to the temptation of darkness long ago;
some had sung hymns of praise as they marched bravely to their deaths, while others clung to a pitiful existence in the shadows. They had believed that the light was gone forever, leaving behind only eternal ruin and lingering survival.
But all of this was finally coming to an end today.
Because...
The light had returned!
Their True Deity... had returned!
...
The Divine Kingdom.
Upon the Divine Seat.
Iluvia knitted Her brows, organizing the information She had gathered from the memories of Lilith and the other two.
Before long, She summarized the compiled information into three main points:
Due to the War of the Gods a thousand years ago, the plane origin of the continent of Aenoria was damaged, causing mana levels to plummet and temporarily closing the connecting passages between the Divine Realm and the plane.
After defeating the Goddess of Light, the other gods rallied races believing in them to hunt down and eradicate most humans possessing angelic bloodlines.
A portion of humans who originally believed in the Goddess of Light betrayed their faith, turning instead to worship other True Deities and founding new kingdoms.
Iluvia breathed a sigh of relief upon learning that the realm passages were closed. This meant She could lay low, slowly build up Her believers to restore Her strength, and gain a solid foothold in this world.
As for the human believers of the previous Goddess of Light being hunted down or turning to other True Deities, that was simply unavoidable.
If any of the former still survived, Iluvia planned to recruit them into Her fold as Her believers; as for the latter, She would not force the issue.
“Still, how should I gather believers... Relying solely on Lilith and the other two definitely won't be enough. And... I can't expand my faith with great fanfare either.”
“After all, while True Deities cannot cross realms directly, Demigods can.”
The so-called closure of realm passages was, more accurately, a closure aimed specifically at True Deities, restricting their physical descent.
It did not, however, restrict beings below the rank of a True Deity.
Of course, this excluded those True Deities who were already within the plane to begin with—though they couldn't leave either.
Given the current energy level of the Aenoria plane, any True Deities still able to remain here meant their power wasn't particularly strong either.
“If I attract the attention of other God-Favored who then summon a Demigod, I'll be in deep trouble. In my current state and strength, I probably can't even beat a Demigod, and can at most deal with the highest mortal ranks like Archmages and Sword Saints.”
Indeed, the power system of this world was divided into nine ranks:
Bronze Rank, Silver Rank, Gold Rank, Black Gold Rank, Purple Gold Rank, Hero Rank, Epic Rank, Legend Rank, and Saint Rank (Archmage, Sword Saint, etc.).
The final Saint Rank was actually a collective term for all Saint Rank powerhouses.
For instance, a Saint Rank practitioner with deep mastery in magic was called an Archmage; one with profound mastery in swordsmanship was called a Sword Saint; and the same logic applied to other paths.
Reaching this rank essentially meant qualifying for godhood.
Thinking up to this point, Iluvia felt a headache coming on. She had just boasted to Her believers about reviving human civilization, but now She was stuck at the very first step.
What should I do? Waiting online, urgent!
Just as Iluvia was at a loss, She suddenly felt something.
It was a feeling of guidance.
Unable to put into words what it was, Iluvia attempted to immerse Her consciousness according to that guidance.
Time flowed by slowly...
When She opened Her eyes again, She had arrived inside a mysterious space.
“This is...?!”
Iluvia looked astonished.
She saw something familiar.
A massive white light cluster floated right in the center of this space.
It was none other than the giant white light cluster Iluvia had seen in that void world before!
It was also the source of the God of Light heritage She had inherited!
At the same time, Iluvia noticed something different from when She had first seen the white light cluster: surrounding it were numerous minuscule specks of white light.
“Those points of light are...? My believers?”
She felt a connection between Herself and those specks of light.
As if to verify this hypothesis, Iluvia drew near the light specks around the cluster and sensed them carefully.
However, the strongest connection was still, without a doubt, with the white light cluster itself.
“Is this... my Divine Spark?”
“Doesn't that mean this place is actually my Divine Spark Space?”
Iluvia murmured thoughtfully.
Her line of thinking was well-founded. According to Her inherited memories, the Divine Spark Space was the location of a True Deity's faith network, as well as the core space for collecting faith and converting divine power—essentially functioning like a central processing unit.
Before She could think further, Iluvia caught sight of something else, Her expression turning to shock and doubt.
“What is this?”
“Another light cluster, and it's blue?”
A blue light cluster, much smaller than the white one, was currently floating quietly not far from the white light cluster. Furthermore, it radiated an overwhelming sense of familiarity and warmth.
“How did I not notice this earlier?”
With a look of confusion, Iluvia slowly extended Her consciousness toward the blue light cluster.
As Her consciousness drew closer, the feeling of familiarity emanating from the blue light cluster grew stronger and stronger.
Sensing this intimacy, an absurd suspicion surfaced in Her mind, causing Her heart to pound rapidly.
“Could it be...”
In the next instant, a massive surge of information flooded forth from it!
“6G network coverage fully achieved nationwide; is the 7G era far behind?”
“Virtual reality games are about to undergo a major revolution, potentially becoming your second life!”
“Multinational joint launch of space stations: the world is about to enter the interstellar era!”
“Shocking! According to reliable insider sources, our country may become the first in the world to own a space fleet.”
“...”
Iluvia stared blankly at the blue light cluster, completely dazed.
Rate on N.U.
