Shroud stood at the center of the Divine Palace, the glow on his body growing increasingly stronger.
He walked up to the destroyed statue, knelt down on one knee, then chanted an incantation:
âDivine Artifact of Radiance, as the final light, I call upon you. If you are willing to follow me, then we still have hopeâ
âIf you are not willing, when the Law of Radiance is completely destroyed, I will leave by myselfâ
After saying that, he silently waited.
After a few moments, nothing occurred.
Shroud stood up and sighed: âVery well, then I can onlyâââ
Before he even finished, the destroyed statue abruptly shattered into fine golden dust, which then manifested into a golden book.
âThe Book of Prophesized Destiny!â
Shroud at this point was still a young man, so he couldnât help calling out in surprise.
The book opened by itself and manifested various lines of text for him to read.
Shroud swiftly finished reading, took the book with one hand, then turned towards Gu Qing Shan and said: âWe can leave nowâ
Gu Qing Shan asked: âWhat about this Divine Palace?â
Shroud patted the book and replied: âItâs ok, the foundation of the Law of Radiance as a whole is inside his book, this Divine Palace is nothing but an empty shell now, left here to temporarily deceive those Law Behemothsâ
He caught Gu Qing Shanâs hand, opened the book with the other, then whispered: âReturn to the mortal realm!â
The golden book gave off a bright flash of light that enveloped the two of them.
Immediately, both of them disappeared.
In the cave.
Gu Qing Shan abruptly appeared.
âYouâre finally backâ Epta called out.
Gu Qing Shan turned around to look, only to see that Epta was sitting next to Shroud while keeping Scarlet in her embrace.
Epta was also cautious, so she had unleashed a small defensive barrier that would be able to repel simple forms of spying and attacks.
Scarlet laid still in her arms, completely unmoving.
âWhat happened!?â
Gu Qing Shanâs heart felt heavy and hurriedly asked.
â...Some people came, Scarlet then killed them allâ Epta explained.
âDid she use up all of her powers? Or was she wounded?â Gu Qing Shan asked.
âShe drank too muchâ Epta replied.
Gu Qing Shan froze.
Epta explained everything that happened from the beginning.
Gu Qing Shan slowly understood.
... How... did things become this way?
If thatâs the case, wouldnât that mean the one who made the entire domain of Death become addicted to alcohol was me?
At this point, Shroud slowly opened his eyes and struggled to speak: âHurry, we need to hurry up and leave!â
ââ-his wounds hadnât completely healed, so it was still a bit inconvenient for him to move.
âWould those Law Behemoths chase after us?â Gu Qing Shan asked.
Shroud hurriedly replied: âYes. They originally wanted to divide the power of the Law of Radiance among themselves, so theyâll soon notice that the Divine Palace was now completely devoid of powerâ
Gu Qing Shan sighed and said: âThatâs not goodâ
Shroud confirmed: âThat is extremely not good, theyâll definitely come to this cave to look for us, so we need to flee right now!â
âGot it, letâs go!â
Gu Qing Shan carried Shroud on his back, and Epta also hurriedly propped Scarlet to her feet when she saw them like that.
âWait!â Shroud suddenly called out.
âWhat is it? We need to hurryâ Gu Qing Shan said.
âBut, where are Reneedol and Atley?â Shroud asked doubtfully.
Gu Qing Shan paused.
Epta also had no words to say.
Everyone knew that Shroud and Reneedol were a couple, having lived so many years together, and it was also Shroud who saved Reneedol in the beginning.
However, just earlier when the Overlord of Radiance disappeared, as Shroud remained inside the Divine Palace of Radiance and looked like he was going to die, Reneedol left.
Having formed a covenant with the Overlord of Wind, Atley also left with Reneedol.
Gu Qing Shan was a bit hesitant.
I should tell Shroud about Reneedol right away.
But Shroudâs injuries hadnât completely healed, so suddenly hearing something like that would most likely be a huge blow to him.
If it worsens his wounds...
While Gu Qing Shan was hesitating, Scarlet briefly snapped out of her sleep, mumbling with an intoxicated tone: âThe World Valley is already done for! Even Shroud with the most potential is done for! Atley considered us to be baggage and ran away with Reneedol, weâre so helpless, we couldnât do anything, the only thing I can do is to drown it all in alcohol, thenâ- hicâââ
Scarlet hiccup softly, then laid her head back into Eptaâs chest and fell back to sleep.
The atmosphere became chilling.
Gu Qing Shan could only follow up: âShroud, donât listen to Scarletâs mumbling. All of us staying together would make too big of a target, so splitting up to flee was the right choiceâ
Shroud exhaled a deep breath, then said: âReneedolâs choice was correct, if she followed us right now, that would only cause everyone to be in more dangerâ
His voice was a bit cold.
Gu Qing Shan couldnât tell his emotions, only sensing that he seemed to have gotten extremely distant from everyone.
ââbut this couldnât be helped.
Nothing would end up with a good outcome with Reneedol around.
Shroud hesitated briefly before struggling to raise his hand.
A golden book manifested in his hand.
It opened by itself.
A small spherical pendant flew out of the book and hovered in mid-air.
âRhode, put this pendant on, it can provide an aura that obscures our tracesâ Shroud explained.
Gu Qing Shan received the pendant and held it in his hand.
Lines of glowing text appeared on the War God UI:
[Radiance Divine Artifact: Sheltering Prayers]
[Those who wear this pendant will obtain the three forces manifested from Light Origin power]
[Firstly, Light Origin: Those who wear this pendant will have their spells bolstered by 30%]
[Secondly, Protection of Light: Those who wear this pendant will have half of the damage they receive be reduced by the Light]
[Thirdly, Hidden Light: By holding onto this pendant with your hand, a hidden area with a 100-meter radius will be created. Within this zone, you and your companions will not be traced by any spells or techniques]
[Attention: The three powers above can only take effect during the day]
Gu Qing Shan exclaimed: âWhat a great treasure!â
Shroud continued struggling to speak: âAll the treasures in the Divine Palace of Radiance are currently in my handsââ we need to find an appropriate place to hide, after my wounds have healed, weâll consider our next stepâ
âYouâre rightâ Gu Qing Shan replied.
He released his inner sight to carefully observe Shroudâs expression.
Only to see that Shroud didnât seem to be heart-broken, nor had the mind to mention Reneedol.
...wait a minute!
This had always been the most difficult obstacle to resolve, could Shroud had always been charmed by Reneedol that he continued to stay by her side?
Gu Qing Shanâs heart abruptly jumped.
Or perhaps...
When Reneedol appeared, she was flowing down the River of Fate.
Could it be that ever since that time, she had already charmed Shroud, which caused Shroud to save her?
Gu Qing Shan felt a chill from his entire body.
If it was such strong a charming ability, no one would be able to prevent it...
He left the cave, regained his bearing, then chose an irregular small path.
It was currently the middle of noon, the time when the light was the strongest.
Thanks to the power of the pendant, the four peopleâs traces vanished completely from the world.
...
At another location.
Reneedol was sitting in a luxurious horse carriage.
Atley lifted the curtains as he entered and cautiously asked: âReneedol, are you ok?â
âIâm fine, I just need to rest for a bitâ Reneedol smiled.
Atley blankly stared at her, greedily taking in her unparalleled beauty.
Reneedol muttered: âShroud will most likely not live for too much longer, Atley, Iâll have to rely on you from now onâ
Atley said right away: âDonât worry, since Iâve already formed a contract with the Law of Wind, Iâll definitely grow increasingly stronger, Iâll be sure to protect you, Reneedolâ
Reneedolâs smile contained a bit more warmth.
She slightly leaned forward and looked straight into Atleyâs eyes: âIncreasingly stronger... during this era, that wouldnât be enough, Atleyâ
Atley asked: âThen what should I do? Should I become the strongest in the world?â
â...No, you must become the strongest person in history, so that no one past, present, or future, would be able to surpass you. This is your goal, Atleyâ
âOnly then, would you receive my affectionâ
Atley was shocked.
The most he had heard was for someone to become the strongest in the world, never did he consider that Reneedol would demand such a thing.
Then again, since Reneedol had demanded it, all I need to do is follow her wish.
Atley reached her hand forward, wanting to touch Reneedolâs face.
Reneedol softly caught his hand and asked: âWhat I said, can you achieve it?â
âReneedol... for your sake, I will definitely achieve itâ Atley replied.
âHmâ Reneedol said satisfactorily.
Suddenly, the world disappeared around them.
The World of Laws had abruptly manifested.
Endless wind formed a tornado that gave off a resounding voice:
ă Go, mortals who had formed a covenant with me, traverse the world and search for that newly born Overlord of Radiance! ă
ă He carries countless treasures on him, he is the common enemy of all the Laws of this world! ă
Within the empty World of Laws, some dim light began to display a portrait.
Shroud.
Shroudâs portrait had appeared in the void of space.
ă Head out, search for him, kill him, retrieve the treasures and Originââ ă
ă Achieve this, and you shall be rewarded by all the Laws of this world! ă
The Law Behemoth of Wind angrily shouted.