At the tarot reading session, important information about the fall of the "Ancient Sun God" is being traded.
While the other members were still in shock at what the "Hermit" said—that "the spirit of the gods is eternal"—the "Hermit" revealed an even more shocking piece of news: the way the "Ancient Sun God" could save himself was by killing himself.
Hidden behind the gray fog, "The Fool" Klein first thought: Could it be that the "Ancient Sun God" hopes to solve his problems through resurrection, similar to Roselle's method?
That's not right. Roselle was trying to solve the problem of the non-adjacent properties within his own body, as well as the problem of his own contamination. That's completely different from the situation encountered by the "Ancient Sun God," isn't it?
The priestess Cattleya had a similar thought, and she also wondered: Is this a routine operation of the gods? Using resurrection to change their condition.
Then she thought of the five paths, including "Secret Prayer," none of which seemed to be similar to the "Lawyer" path of "exploiting loopholes." Could the resurrection of the "Ancient Sun God" also cleanse the spiritual residue of extraordinary characteristics within the body?
Alger, the "Hanged Man," speculated that the "Ancient Sun God" killed himself, but during his resurrection, he was betrayed by the "Angel Kings."
The other members also had their own guesses, but none of them could figure it out.
"Justice" Audrey suddenly recalled: "'The Hermit', I remember you said before that gods cannot commit suicide. Does that mean that those at the 'above-god' level can?"
"That's right, gods cannot commit suicide, and the 'Ancient Sun God' also faced this problem." Odis replied with a smile, "So He commanded the 'Dark Angel' Sasriel and entrusted the 'Goddess of Night' to form the 'Redemption Rose'."
The other members almost all gasped, staring at the "Hermit" in shock.
Odis did not continue immediately, but gave everyone some time to react.
"Sun" Derrick gaped: It wasn't the betrayal of the "Angel Kings," nor the temptation of the "Goddess of Night," but the establishment of the "Redemption Rose" was the will of the "Lord"! Redemption... redemption is of the "All-Knowing and All-Powerful Lord"!
This information was completely beyond Klein's expectations: "The Ancient Sun God" was truly ruthless to him! He gathered most of the ruthless people at the time, just to kill him!
"Magician" Fors leaned back in his chair, feeling he needed to catch his breath: "I had previously suspected that the 'Ancient Sun God' might have been betrayed by the 'Angel Kings'? Well... based on the content of the murals, he may indeed have been betrayed, but what I didn't expect was that the cause of all this was that the 'Ancient Sun God' was in a bad state!"
After her initial surprise, Gadriya calmed down before asking the "Hermit": "Could this be because the 'Ancient Sun God' is in a bad state, and it's not an order from his own heart?"
The other members were taken aback for a moment, but they all felt that it wasn't impossible.
When you're in a bad state, you might make decisions that aren't from your heart.
Furthermore, Gadriya had another question. After a slight pause, she asked, "Since the 'Ancient Sun God' is at a level 'above the gods,' why is He troubled by the spiritual remnants of the 'True God' level?"
The other members, including Klein, were taken aback again; this was a relatively unfamiliar line of thinking for them.
Alger had to admire the "Priestess's" clear thinking: How come I didn't think of that? Under normal circumstances, a Level 2 sealed artifact can have its negative effects relatively easily avoided as long as it is one sequence higher than its counterpart. The "Ancient Sun God" is one... at least half a level higher than a god. Could the spiritual remnants of the ancient gods really make His condition so bad?
So everyone looked up at the "hermit" again, waiting for his explanation.
Odis smiled and said, "There are indeed some other reasons behind this. You've all heard of the concept of 'divinity,' haven't you?"
"After becoming a Sequence 4, one will possess a faint divinity. As one continues to advance, the divinity will become more and more obvious. It is said that when one becomes an angel, divinity is already an important part of one's spiritual composition."
Klein and Gadriya nodded slowly; they had already learned similar information.
Most of the other members only knew the general concept of divinity and did not know what divinity meant.
Odis continued, "Regarding the question of divinity, I have some conjectures. I don't know if these ideas are correct, but the logic should be sound."
"I suspect that all divinity comes from the 'original creator,' or that an important part of divinity is the spiritual remnant of that 'original.'"
"The other part comes from the previous holders of the internal characteristics."
"Under normal circumstances, the former should not be active, because according to legend and actual performance, the 'original' should be in a dormant state at present."
"The latter should be able to achieve a certain balance, after all, there is no record of any god in a good state gradually turning into the image of an ancient god after becoming a god."
"Therefore, I believe that most deities, unless there are problems left over from their ascension or problems inherent in the process itself, should be able to maintain a good state relatively easily."
Everyone nodded in agreement. After all, there were seven righteous gods in good condition, while only three evil gods seemed to be in poor condition and were relatively active: the "True Creator," the "Primordial Witch," and the "Hidden Sage."
Other "Demon Kings" and " Bound Gods " rarely appear.
Moreover, in the history of the extraordinary, most of the gods were in good condition. For example, among the "Four Emperors", only the "Blood Emperor" was not in good condition, while the "Underworld Emperor" was in a pretty good condition at the beginning.
The ancient gods can't be included here, since they became gods in a crazy era, when they probably didn't even have a concept of "being in good condition".
Of course, the key issue is that their problems mainly stem from the characteristic of "non-adjacent paths," while the problem of mental residue is secondary.
Odis continued, "I think there should be some special cases regarding spiritual remnants. For example, at the level of the 'Ancient Sun God,' has the 'original' divinity within Him risen to a point where it needs to be strongly resisted?"
"Or has it become so serious that if no action is taken, the person might awaken to some extent in the 'initial' stage?"
The most important thing is not that the "original" needs to awaken, but that the "original" or "God" needs to awaken.
Odis planned to find another opportunity to explain the "beginning" and "original".
Everyone was stunned again. Klein was the first to react: this guess was indeed very logical, and it could only be a guess, because apart from the "Ancient Sun God" himself, no one knew the troubles faced by beings at this level.
He took a deep breath: What does the "Hermit" think about every day? How can he make such high-level guesses?
Klein's sigh stemmed from his lack of awareness that Odis possessed a godlike perspective, and these speculations, made from the perspective of "bottom to top," indeed seemed like an impossible task.
However, if you understand concepts such as "original" or "primordial," this kind of question is not too difficult to understand.
Even someone as learned as Cattleya was momentarily at a loss for words, while the other members marveled at the awakening of the "original creator"! It was terrifying to even think about!
Odis paused for a moment, then continued, "With this premise, everything that follows makes sense. The 'Ancient Sun God' did not want to kill Himself, but rather the being awakening within Him, who wanted to take His place!"
"Therefore, most of the 'Angel Kings,' including those 'Angel Kings' who were very loyal to Him, responded to the call and joined the 'Redemption Rose' that He secretly established."
Hearing this, Alger took a deep breath, feeling so shocked that his senses were almost numb: if it weren't for the "Hermit's" analysis, who would have thought that the underlying cause of this matter was like this!
"Justice" Audrey thought to herself: My knowledge is still too limited. After learning about the 'Redemption Rose,' I made many guesses, but I never made this one! Or rather, because I have no concept of mental residue, I simply didn't think of this!
The other members were also expressing their amazement at the twists and turns of the matter.
Odis patiently waited a few seconds before continuing, "And so, in the 'Giant's Court,' the 'Angel Kings' and the gods began their conspiracy. Although they were numerous and powerful, they were not confident enough to defeat the 'Ancient Sun God'..."
Everyone looked at "Sun," remembering that "Little Sun" had once shared his experience of exploring the afternoon town near "Giant's Court" in Silver City.
At that time, they encountered a strange clergyman who kept saying that the "kings" had begun a conspiracy, and that the "Goddess of Night" had seduced the "Angel Kings" and made them betray the "Ancient Sun God".
"…I have not received any specific information about their planning process," Odis said. "As we have said before, it is 'secret'."
"However, I received an amazing message from the great 'Lord of Mysteries': 'Dark Angel' Sasriel is an 'Angel King' with two Sequence 1 traits from the 'Mystic' pathway."
Alger immediately made the connection: Did the black baby in the mural refer to the "Dark Angel" Sasriel?
Amidst everyone's confusion, Odis continued, "Sassriel is an avatar of the 'Ancient Sun God'! To be precise, an avatar primarily formed from His humanity!"
What!
A clone?
Silence fell over the hall once more. After a few seconds, Gadriya couldn't help but sigh inwardly: Why does the course of events always seem to defy my... or rather, our expectations? Just now, it was the same. The most logical guess was that the "Angel King" betrayed the "Ancient Sun God," but the "Redemption Rose" was actually established under the "Ancient Sun God's" instructions!
This...this is completely beyond the comprehension of normal people!
At this moment, Gadria felt a pang of envy for the "Hermit," who had access to such advanced knowledge through channels like the "Lord of Mysteries." Only with a wealth of advanced knowledge could the "Hermit" make such a bold conjecture.
Klein exclaimed, "The 'Ancient Sun God' sent his clone to kill the original! And it actually succeeded! Haha... Even novels wouldn't dare write something like this!"
Then he thought: Could the true name of the "True Creator" be Sasriel?
At this moment, "Little Sun" was filled with shock and no longer felt any sadness.
After seeing that everyone had mostly recovered from their shock, Odis continued, "Having learned this crucial information, I have some new conjectures:
"It is very likely that at a very early time, such as during the Second Epoch, the 'Ancient Sun God' was not in good condition, and designed this clone in order to maintain his condition."
"The general theory is that the 'Ancient Sun God' left behind his divinity to fight against the being that was about to awaken within him, and used the identity of the 'Dark Angel' to isolate his humanity."
"In this way, the 'Dark Angel' as a human being can continuously provide spiritual power to the divine aspect of the 'Ancient Sun God,' while the 'Dark Angel' Sasriel will not be affected by the struggle between the divinities..."
Upon hearing this, Alger immediately thought to himself: This is the same principle as watertight compartments on a ship.
"...and it was also because after learning this information, the plan for 'Redemption Rose' to fight against 'Ancient Sun God' was developed," Odis said.
"When the plan began, the humanity represented by the 'Dark Angel' Sasriel fell into slumber and returned to the body of the 'Ancient Sun God' to help the 'Ancient Sun God' fight against the spiritual remnants of the awakened being."
"At this moment, the other members of 'Redemption Rose' immediately launched an attack..."
Odis took a deep breath and continued, "According to information I obtained from other sources, the battle seems to be going relatively smoothly. The 'Goddess of Night' has put the 'Ancient Sun God' into a brief slumber, and the other members immediately displayed their strongest abilities."
"In the 'Ruins of the War of Gods' at the end of the Sunia Sea, the rule that one must immediately fall asleep when night falls seems to be related to the attack of the 'Goddess of Night' and the reaction of the 'Ancient Sun God'."
"Furthermore, I've heard that within the 'Ruins of the War of Gods,' there is a region containing the dream of the 'Ancient Sun God,' which is extremely dangerous and no one is allowed to explore it."
Upon hearing the mention of the "Ruins of the God War," Klein immediately thought of the divine power that existed there. At the time, he couldn't understand what kind of god war would possess such complex divine power. Now he understood: one side of the war was the "Ancient Sun God," who was "above the gods," and the other side consisted of most of the gods at the time and the "King of Angels."
The remnants left by such battles, no matter how complex or powerful, are understandable.
Cattleya asked, "Then... what about the 'dreams in the ruins of the Gods' War'? The dreams that can drive even demigods mad."
"That must be a curse from the gods," Odis said. "Or it could be a 'talking' attack from the level of the 'Ancient Sun God'."
"Those murmurs have echoed across that sea for thousands of years."
"Moon" Emlyn took a deep breath: This is the power of a god... no, the power of "above the gods"!
Other members echoed similar sentiments, gaining a deeper understanding of the power of the gods and the power "above the gods."
Odis continued, "After the 'Ancient Sun God' was attacked and defeated by the members of the 'Redemption Rose,' the gods temporarily left the battlefield, giving the 'Ancient Sun God' enough time to recover its uniqueness and characteristics."
"At this moment, the 'Pure White Angel,' 'Wind Angel,' and 'Cherubim' suddenly betrayed the 'Ancient Sun God,' stealing their respective uniqueness and Sequence 1 characteristics from Him."
Alger took a deep breath: As expected, things are developing in this direction.
Then he suddenly realized that it wasn't surprising that the "Lord of Storms" had become a god in this way.
He then realized that he had already had such thoughts in his subconscious, and now those thoughts were being confirmed, so he didn't find the result surprising.
The other members also seemed to feel a sense of relief; they had all had this suspicion to some extent before this.
"Little Sun" Derrick was no longer so grief-stricken: Thus, in the early Quaternary period, three of the seven gods became gods!
Audrey, the "Justice," seemed to realize belatedly that the origins of the seven gods were now clear: the "Goddess of Night" was once a servant of the ancient god "Destroyer Wolf," and the "Earth Mother Goddess" and the "God of War" were once servants of the "King of Giants." These three gods became gods in the late Second Age and have now gone through four ages.
Furthermore, the "Lord of Storms," the "Eternal Sun," and the "God of Knowledge and Wisdom" were all important subordinates of the "Ancient Sun God." At the end of the Third Age, they received uniqueness and characteristics from the "Ancient Sun God" and became deities at the beginning of the Fourth Age.
The last "god of steam and machinery" became a god in the late Quaternary period.
Audrey breathed a sigh of relief and suddenly smiled: I can't believe I already know so much secret information!
Odis continued, "I also obtained some intelligence, which shows that the 'Sage' also participated in this battle. He originally wanted to stop the three 'Angel Kings,' but it seems that he was blocked by a force that appears to be an Outer God."
"In the end, the result of this war of the gods was that the uniqueness of the three pathways and the sequence 1 characteristic of the 'Ancient Sun' were taken away by the three 'Angel Kings' respectively."
"This interrupted the process of the 'ancient sun god's' resurrection and disrupted His resurrection plan."
Silence seemed to be the dominant emotion in the main hall today.
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After a second or two, "The Magician" Fors remarked: "The gods the 'Hermit' speaks of are quite different from the gods I know. The gods the 'Hermit' speaks of also had a period of 'weakness,' and even used some despicable means to become the gods they are today."
Other members shared similar thoughts and exclaimed in their hearts: "If this were my first time attending a Tarot meeting, I would definitely point my finger at 'The Hermit' and yell at him for blaspheming!"
Then Klein suddenly realized: "The Hermit" did not explicitly say that "the ancient sun god" had fallen!
Just as he was about to ask a question, Odis continued, "Gentlemen, I know what you're thinking. Don't you feel that the upper structure of the Extraordinary Realm is very dark, and that the gods aren't as wonderful as you originally imagined?"
After a moment of stunned silence, the crowd, though not nodding, expressed that Odis had spoken their minds.
Odis said, "Gentlemen, I don't know if you remember a concept I mentioned before: after becoming an extraordinary person, you must be prepared to accept that you can be killed by others as prey at any time, and that your extraordinary characteristics will become the wealth of others."
Everyone was stunned again, especially Alger and Gadriya, as if recalling a rather dark experience.
Odis continued, "The so-called 'path of the gods' is a fiercely competitive struggle."
"We've discussed this issue before. In order to suppress competition, the Church of the True God doesn't even disclose the 'playing method,' causing many extraordinary individuals to die in vain."
He paused for a moment and then said, "In my opinion, although the 'Pure White Angels' and 'Wind Angels' followed the 'Ancient Sun God' very early on, they should also be very clear that the chance of becoming gods is very, very small."
"Especially in cases like theirs, if the 'ancient sun god' were to complete the resurrection process, they would have no chance of becoming gods for a very long time to come."
"I don't know which of the three started it, but I can guess that they were very in sync on this matter and carried out the action together without even discussing it."
After hearing this, everyone fell silent. They knew very well that the "hermit" was not trying to exonerate the three gods, but was simply stating the facts.
"Little Sun" Derrick pondered for a moment, then seemed to muster his courage before saying, "But... but they can't become gods through betrayal, that would be... that would be too despicable."
The other members didn't say anything, because they didn't think that choosing to support or oppose "Little Sun" was the right answer.
Even Audrey, the "righteous one," felt that the actions of the three "Angel Kings" were definitely wrong, but she sensed in her heart that they were not evil.
At this moment, Odis asked "Little Sun" Derrick: "If... I mean if, if Silver City finds a way to the outside world, but it means sacrificing your Silver City chief and everyone you cherish, do you think it's worth it?"
Derrick replied almost reflexively, "It's worth it!"
Because they were taught from a young age to restore light to Silver City at all costs!
In such a repressive living environment, personal gains and losses, and even life itself, are insignificant.
It was precisely because of this determination that Silver City was able to persevere in the darkness for thousands of years!
Odis then asked, "Do you think this is morally right?"
Derrick paused for a moment, seemingly understanding the meaning of "hermit".
Odis shrugged and said, "I just want to say that we are also extraordinary beings, and we also face cruel and fierce competition."
"In such competition, it's already quite good if we can stick to our principles. People with 'moral fastidiousness' are destined to be eliminated quickly."
"Therefore, none of us need to criticize the methods that the gods used to become gods, because when we were in that position, we might not have done any better than them."
"This is not self-deprecation, but facing one's own desires and acknowledging them."
Everyone fell silent again.
Soon, "Justice" Audrey realized: No wonder "The Hermit" was in such good condition; his inner strength was truly remarkable.
She knows very well that most people can't "face themselves".
Cattleya remarked: "This makes me think about some philosophical questions, such as whether it is moral to sacrifice one person to save two others."
She suddenly smiled: "Looking back now, these thoughts are ridiculous, or rather, when I was pondering these questions, I had already fallen into a 'moral trap.' The 'hermit,' on the other hand, seems to have no such concerns at all. Such open-mindedness requires courage, because before that, one must first recognize that: sometimes I can be a despicable person, and I am not as kind and righteous as I perceive myself to be."
Klein suddenly recalled some Taoist ideas he had come across before.
"Alright, let's leave this topic here for now," Odis continued. "Let's go back to what we were talking about earlier."
"The process of the 'Ancient Sun God's' resurrection was forced to stop, and the uniqueness of the three pathways and the Sequence 1 characteristic were stolen."
"Under such circumstances, He urgently reclaimed the uniqueness and Sequence 1 characteristics of the 'Mystic' pathway, and together with His humanity, He formed a deity, namely the 'True Creator'."
What?
How did the true Creator come to be?
This once again exceeded the expectations of the other members!
It even shocked everyone. Undoubtedly, the "Ancient Sun God" was a righteous god in the Third Age, but because of him, an evil god was created!
Immediately afterwards, the members came up with many details.
Cattleya frowned: No wonder the "Hermit" once said that the "True Creator" inherited most of the legacy of the "Ancient Sun God" to a certain extent. And in this way at all!
Klein also recalled some things that the "Hermit" hadn't explained clearly when they were trading information about the Fourth Age. For example, why did Solomon always receive the support of the "True Creator"? Because Solomon was originally a subordinate of the "Ancient Sun God," and after he became the "Black Emperor," he would definitely receive the support of his "old master."
There are many more clues like this. For example, why did Mr. "Men" stand firmly on the side of the Solomon Empire in the beginning? Because Mr. "Men" was also a subordinate of the "Ancient Sun God" in the Third Age.
The reason why the "Emperor of the Underworld" always chose to ally with the Solomon Empire is that the "Ancient Sun God" defeated the "Phoenix Ancestor" in the Second Era. He likely possessed the unique "Death God" pathway, which was exactly what the "Emperor of the Underworld" needed.
Besides Klein, the other members also thought of some details about the Fourth Age, such as how "Red Angel" Medici and "Fate Angel" Urolius never left the "Redemption Rose" and chose to pledge allegiance to the "True Creator," which was equivalent to continuing to be loyal to the "Ancient Sun God."
As everyone's thoughts were racing, "The Sun" Derrick was momentarily confused and simply asked, "'The Hermit,' 'The Omniscient and Omnipotent Lord,' has he truly fallen?"
If we say it has fallen, then what is the "true creator" anyway?
To say that He didn't perish is an understatement; He truly no longer exists.
Odis countered, "Can you accept becoming a devout follower of the 'True Creator,' falling into depravity, causing damage to Silver City, being forced to leave, and finally seeking the 'True Creator's' divine kingdom through devout worship?"
Derrick replied almost without hesitation, "No."
Odis smiled and said, "Then the 'Lord' you worship has fallen!"
Derrick took a deep breath and suddenly felt enlightened.
Klein sighed, thankfully "The Hermit" was a member with a clear mind and good communication skills. If this matter had not been explained clearly, "Little Sun" would have been stuck in a long-term dilemma, which might have even affected his performance.
While the other members were also marveling at how effective this method of "persuasion" was, Odis continued, "The fall of the 'Ancient Sun God' had a tremendous impact on this world."
"When the 'Ancient Sun God' had just fallen, it is very likely that all life forms in the world were affected and impacted to some extent."
"In the Eastern Continent of our world, the natural laws almost completely collapsed in a very short period of time. After that, it became a place where sunlight could not reach, unless the uniqueness and corresponding characteristics of the 'sun' pathway returned to that region."
Derrick immediately asked, "'The Hermit,' is that possible?"
Odis did not answer the question directly, but took a deep breath and said: "Currently, the five pathways that the 'Ancient Sun God' once mastered are respectively with the 'True Creator', the 'Eternal Sun', the 'Lord of Storms', the 'God of Knowledge and Wisdom', and the 'Imaginary Angel'."
"In my opinion, it would be very difficult for the 'Ancient Sun God' to reclaim these unique characteristics."
"Moreover, although the three gods, including the 'Eternal Sun,' have certain conflicts with each other, they may join forces when threatened. They formed an alliance during the Fourth Age."
"The other gods might not necessarily want the 'Ancient Sun God,' who is of a higher level than them, to return."
Derrick fell silent. He knew very well that there would be great resistance to the return of the "omniscient and omnipotent Lord".
Odis took a deep breath and said, "That concludes the details of this transaction."
Silence fell over the hall. As usual, everyone digested the information for a while, and then made some connections before moving on to the discussion session of this Tarot meeting.