[Vol. 9] Chapter 14: The Temple of Contradiction
The magician nodded, not avoiding the presence of the person being spoken about, and said directly.
“Because of some things in the past, Edith’s body was always weak. Later, I found a way to help her break through to the Transcendent level and change her body constitution. Things got a little better after that, but the hidden injuries were still there. The danger of not being fully healed meant her life force drained much faster than normal people. By more than three hundred years ago, her body was already close to collapsing.”
“In order to extend Edith’s life, I had no choice but to ask the God of Paradox for help. Later, I secretly ordered people to build this Sky Prison. The real purpose of this place is to use the God of Paradox’s power to reverse the hatred and killing intent released by countless prisoners, turning it into pure healing power that could nourish Edith’s body.”
“The seed of the Tree of Life was the same. It was something I got by chance as a bonus from the Council. Honestly, I didn’t expect her to actually grow it to the size it is now. I should say—”
At that moment, the golden-robed girl coughed lightly. The magician, realizing he had gone off-topic again, awkwardly rubbed his nose, then quickly shifted back to the gray ring lying on the table.
“Ahem… In short, the third underground level of the Sky Prison is actually a piece of the God of Paradox’s divine realm, cut out by Him. As long as another god who also has a divine realm gains a medium like this, they can connect their divine thoughts here. Because the divine realm itself is the anchor, aside from you two, the lords of your own divine realms, no other being can spy on what happens inside.”
“So cautious, huh…”
This method was indeed something recorded in the memories of the Spirit Fox Shrine Maiden. It was one of the highest-level ways only true gods could use to communicate. But since the God of Paradox’s true self was blocked outside the world, if He wanted to connect His divine realm with the priestess’s, He could only use such a method.
Shaking her head helplessly, Violet glanced at the Dragon God sitting across from her. After seeing the slight nod in reply, she didn’t hesitate further. She picked up the ring, which clearly carried the mark of the God of Paradox.
In fact, wearing it or not didn’t make much difference. The priestess simply held it in her hand and gently infused some of her spiritual power into it. At once, she understood its purpose.
A key, a beacon. Only by following its guidance and passing its recognition could she unlock what was hidden within. It was like encrypted communication, just being in range was not enough, you also needed the right password and device.
Yes, that made sense.
Pushing aside her wandering thoughts, Violet focused, closed her eyes, and connected with the divine thought inside the ring.
The next moment, the darkness before her twisted and spun. An indescribable force pulled at her. The Radiance divinity inside her let out a soft hum, extending a piece of her own divine realm outward to connect with the other side.
When she opened her eyes again, the garden of the third underground level of the Sky Prison was gone.
Instead, she was inside a slightly dim great hall.
Violet looked curiously around. The arrangement was very strange. It clearly looked like a temple, but there was no towering statue of a god being worshiped. Instead, hundreds of metal sculptures of different shapes and appearances stood scattered around the hall.
Each sculpture was not very tall, only a little more than one meter including the base. In front of every sculpture were three sticks of incense, all burning. Together, hundreds of sticks gave off streams of faint gray smoke, filling the entire hall in a dreamlike mist.
Violet recognized it instantly. This gray smoke was clearly the unique effect that always appeared when the God of Paradox’s power manifested. In fact, it was the essence of the rules and authority He controlled.
In other words, these sculptures share the same origin as Exmont’s true nature.
“By the way, why do you guys always refuse to light lamps when having secret talks… Do you think it feels more mysterious that way?”
[It is because your light shines too brightly. Everything you see and feel naturally carries a filter of brilliance. In truth, not every being in this world can live as freely and easily under the glow of light as you do.]
[Strong light always creates even darker shadows. So, standing between the two and keeping balance is the true rule of survival.]
The deep voice speaking in the ancient god language responded to the priestess’s casual complaint. Violet wasn’t surprised and turned her head, only to see that at some unknown moment, a figure covered in a long robe was already standing among the many sculptures inside the hall.
The hood covered almost the entire face, leaving only strands of gray mist flowing from beneath. It seemed like the mist that filled the temple had gathered on this figure, as if this being was its true source. Just standing there, the waves of divinity quietly spread out, making people feel respect and awe without realizing it.
But unfortunately, a certain priestess had long since gotten used to such things.
“No lamps then, fine. But don’t make it sound so mystical… I’m warning you, what I hate the most are people who talk in riddles. If you start with nonsense, don’t blame me if I just stand up and leave.”
[Heh~]
Her threat, which didn’t sound intimidating at all, only made the other let out a faint, unclear laugh. Then the figure raised a hand and lightly waved. Instantly, a round table and two opposing divine thrones appeared out of thin air. Making a polite gesture to sit down, the being sat in place as if they weren’t strangers or past enemies at all.
Violet wasn’t polite either. After both of them sat facing each other, she didn’t rush straight to the main topic. Instead, she curiously looked around at the hundreds of different sculptures filling the temple and asked with interest.
“By the way, what are all these?”
[Works.]
The answer was calm. Seeing the priestess tilt her head in confusion, the God of Subversion casually asked in return.
[How should I address you?]
“Just call me by name. You’ve known it for a long time already, haven’t you?”
The figure nodded.
[Violet, how much do you know about this body?]
“Well, let me think…”
The girl counted on her fingers one by one.
“God of Subversion and Contradiction, Exmont. A member of the [Twilight Council]. The secret leader behind the underground group [Eternal Throne]. Seems to have ties with the vampire race. In the past, you also worked with Silvester Bullwer to stir up trouble in the Ten Thousand Demons Mountains. And the incident in Sainz also has your fingerprints on it. Wow… Why does it feel like no matter where I look, I can always see traces of you? Are you some kind of full-time villain?”
She coughed lightly and continued.
“Anyway, in short, you’re probably the kind of guy who can’t sit still, always wants to get involved in everything, but rarely shows up on the surface. Your style has no bottom line, you’ve done a lot of bad things, but you don’t go around doing evil for no reason. You’re very goal-driven, or maybe I should just say… profit comes first?”
[......]