Chapter 122

End

Theodosius suddenly let out a furious shout.

The old man’s withered hands formed a series of complex seals.

In an instant, the outermost ring of the pale star ring spanning the heavens collapsed, fragments of mental strength falling into the realm of the dead like meteors.

His aura rose higher and higher, at one point even suppressing the hundred-meter waves stirred up by the Sea of Eternal Slumber.

He had not chosen to submit or hand over the sacrificed souls, but instead directly chose to detonate the star ring.

This act allowed him, for a short time, to obtain mental strength enough to rival a Crown Wizard.

However, just as Theodosius prepared to fight to the death, a dimensional rift that pierced through heaven and earth suddenly tore open.

“ Sleeper, it seems you have violated the clauses of the Old Pact!”

The clear voice carried layered echoes, as if coming simultaneously from countless parallel worlds.

From the void rift, an elder draped in a robe woven of starlight stepped out at an unhurried pace.

The gigantic face of the Death God’s incarnation revealed shock for the first time.

The Crown Wizard who had appeared raised his hand slightly, and the collapsing star ring fragments suddenly froze in place. Then, the shattered outer ring miraculously reformed and rejoined the star ring.

When the final fragment fused in place, Theodosius turned, guiding Lucy into a bow before this wizard. “Your Excellency, Hermes!”

The person before them was none other than one of the twelve Crown Wizards of the Star Law Institute  the Crown of the Astral Realm, Dimensional Traveler, Hermes.

“My old friend, leave this rough work of dealing with a chief deity to me.” Hermes turned and winked at Theodosius.

Before his words had even fallen, the entire space of the Styx region abruptly shattered, breaking into countless tiny fragments.

Each fragment reflected a scene from a different plane — some showed a molten hell, others the countless soul remains on the floor of the Dead Sea, and still others directly mirrored the Soul Throne deep within the Sea of Eternal Slumber.

On that throne, the true body of the Sleeper slowly opened his eyes.

Hermes said calmly, “Now that I’m here, do you still wish to continue?”

The Sleeper’s gaze was icy, and the entire realm of the dead trembled violently.

But in the end, He slowly raised His right hand. The surging seawater began to recede at a speed visible to the naked eye, and the countless angels of the realm of the dead along with the incarnation of the chief deity faded into nothingness.

Within a few dozen breaths, all abnormalities vanished completely, leaving only the ever-flowing Styx.

No matter how many hidden methods were prepared in secret, from the moment Hermes tore through the planes and entered the realm of the dead, they were already in vain.

Under the suppression of the Old Pact, let alone the Sleeper — even if the Old Three Gods were gathered together, they would likely still be no match for the other party.

But this failure could by no means be blamed on Him.

Not only had He suffered Icarus’s betrayal, but even the Elemental Giant who was supposed to block the Crown Wizard had not made a move to intercept.

Thinking of this, the Sleeper swept His massive hand, sealing off the surrounding planes.

Hermes turned to look toward the ark, his gaze lingering on Lucy for a moment longer.

She lowered her head slightly, showing respect to one of the strongest humans alive.

“Looks like I’ve missed quite a show.” The Dimensional Traveler chuckled softly. “But for now, the priority is to get out of this cursed place.”

He flicked his sleeve, and his robe of starlight unfurled, revealing countless miniature planes hidden within.

Lucy felt her body lighten, and both she and the ship were drawn into a starlit subspace.

…

Star Law Institute, Time-Marks Tower.

A black-haired girl sat by the window, holding a chronomancy tome. Sunlight streamed through the library’s casement window, rendering her profile almost translucent. Her long lashes trembled faintly, yet her thoughts were far from the book.

Ten days earlier, she had received intelligence from the Kingdom of Cordova.

It claimed that the Old Three Gods had joined forces with the Lord of Oddities to use the over ten million inhabitants of the Principality of Kolo as sacrifices to the Old Gods, attempting to bring the true forms of the Three Pillar Gods into the Primary Plane.

Although, according to later reports, events had not progressed toward the worst outcome — with Master Hermes even going to the realm of the dead to rescue Master Theodosius and Lucy —

Until she saw them in person, the black-haired girl could not rest easy.

Just then, footsteps echoed in the quiet library.

“Olivia, remember you asked me to find out about Miss Felicia? I have news!”

Norty sat down beside the black-haired girl, paying no mind to the fact that her voice was disturbing the other readers in the library.

At any other time, Olivia would have stopped her friend’s noisy behavior.

But now, her own voice was even louder than Norty’s.

“Lucy! Where is she?!”

“I heard from the duty wizards over at the skyport that Master Theodosius is bringing Miss Felicia over. They should be almost at the Star Law Institute by now… Hey! Where are you going? I just sat down—”

By the time the apprentices responsible for maintaining quiet in the library could no longer tolerate it, the two had already rushed out of the library doors one after the other.

In the corridor.

Her heart was pounding so fast it felt as if it might leap from her chest, and the crisp sound of her little leather boots rang against the floor.

The casement windows on both sides seemed to race past until, breathless, she arrived at the Star Law Institute’s plaza.

A crowd had already gathered in the plaza, their voices overlapping in constant murmurs.

“…I heard she’s a wizard from the School of Anatomy. Not only did she devour the Gatekeeper, Fenrir, but she also swallowed over ten million souls in one go — including a high-ranking wizard and dozens of official wizards…”

“And she even put Chief Arbiter Zoe, one of the Seven Gods of the Realm of Death, into slumber.”

“Then doesn’t that make her a ‘God-Eater’!”

“And she even confronted the Sleeper face-to-face…”

“Aren’t you from the Kingdom of Cordova? Have you seen her?”

“No.” The senior apprentice shook his head. “But I correspond with apprentices from the Witch’s Cottage, and they all call her the silver-haired demon.”

“God-Eater! Silver-haired demon!”

The two names drew sharp intakes of breath from the wizard apprentices present.

They were already imagining what terrifying figure this wizard must be.

Among wizards, there was a long-standing saying — there are only wrong names, never wrong nicknames.

A great wizard would often make a name for themselves during their rise, earning a title widely recognized by the public.

That title would gradually become their exclusive designation as they grew.

Take Master Theodosius’s “Pale Scalpel,” for example, or Mentor Fernando’s “Midnight Dissector.”

And yet, this Miss Felicia’s nickname was actually “silver-haired demon.” Coupled with the fact that she had devoured the Gatekeeper and over ten million souls…

These wizard apprentices, who had no access to the complete details of the incident, quickly let their imaginations run wildly in the worst possible direction.

Norty turned to glance at her friend, who was struggling to suppress her laughter.

“Is this Miss Felicia you asked me to investigate really as terrifying as they say?!”

What kind of ruthless person could deserve a title like “demon”?

Thinking of the beautiful, delicate Lucy being called the silver-haired demon in secret, Olivia felt her cheeks almost locking into a grin.

“That’s right.” She spoke with a perfectly straight face. “Back when we were studying at the Tower of the Four Sages, Lucy even twisted off the Lord of Nightmares’s finger to use it as a door key.”

Norty’s eyes went wide as she tried to find some trace of jest on her friend’s face.

But although there was a faint glimmer of amusement in the other’s eyes, her expression remained perfectly serious, without a hint of fabrication.

Olivia was already twisted enough but she hadn’t expected her friend to be even more twisted!

…

When Theodosius walked slowly through the gates of the Star Law Institute, the plaza full of gathered apprentices fell silent.

Every one of them stared, eyes wide, toward the entrance behind him.

A shadow gradually took shape in the light.

Unconsciously, the crowd held their breath.

Then — they saw a white dog, walking upright on its hind legs, step through the gates.

“What are you looking at me for? Never seen such a handsome three-headed hound of the realm of the dead? Keep staring and I’ll gouge out every last one of your eyeballs!”