He doesn't underestimate any possibility.

Moreover...

"Could that twisted divine being be the dark side of the Love God?"

In the dream, it seemed lost, repeatedly calling out "Rudelson."

It left Louis feeling dizzy after waking up.

A wasted sleep, and yelling so loudly was futile.

The real Rudelson had long since died.

The Mad King who left him the Book of the Dead also vanished without a trace; he didn't know if the guy was dead or alive.

"I should ask Old Deng about what's going on with the Mad King."

...

[Location: Lokeshi Empire · Imperial Capital · City Walls]

Beneath the stars, a Priest looks up toward the sky.

"Finally entering an active period, starting the Path of Godhood."

Moonlight gently flows, reflecting on the city walls.

In front of the Priest, a group of mysterious figures in black robes kneel.

"Your Eminence, our long-held wish is finally unfolding its prologue; it's time for the world to witness the rise of the dark side of the Love God."

The Priest slightly lowers his gaze, smiling at the corners of his eyes, saying:

"Everyone, do you think we should contact our like-minded brethren? Being both sides of the Love God, inviting the brethren from the God of Love Church to witness this grand event together; that would be the perfect stage."

After the Priest finished speaking, the crowd burst into laughter.

Someone shook their head, saying: "Your Eminence, don't joke around, you know clearly this is impossible. In their eyes, we are heretics, aberrations, symbols of desecration."

"That's why I am curious," the Priest smiled gently, "letting them see the heretics coming forward, just imagining their expressions makes me more expectant."

"Your Eminence, let's wait a bit longer! The day the stars dim will be the time my God returns."

...

Flowing moonlight reflects on the window sill and corner of the wall, writing a poem without words.

Alice lies sideways on the sofa, the moonlight reflecting on the ground outlining a seductive silhouette.

She slowly opens her eyes, oh what kind of eyes they are!

Like waves in the sea under the moon, revealing a cold and lonely expression amidst the surging.

A sudden voice comes from outside the door:

"Sister, father is contacting you."

"Brother, come in." She is too lazy to even get up.

The door swings open, a middle-aged man walks in, glances at her, and says:

"Here's the thing, you should think about it yourself."

"There's nothing to think about; I've agreed."

Her brother, who had been preparing to leave, paused, turned back in surprise, and said:

"Are you really sure? This time it's very dangerous."

"You've already sent the design blueprint of Vestis's Blade to me, and now you say this?" she remarked lazily, "Since it's basically set, don't hesitate too much, just do it." 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"Becoming a divine choice may not necessarily be a good thing; you do have choices." Her brother calmly said, "Our Ashford Family has the qualification to refuse, as long as you wish."

Alice lowered her gaze, after a long pause, she softly said:

"I am too weak; the weak have no power to choose, only the honor of being chosen."

"Then what's the law for?" Her brother rolled his eyes, saying, "Say directly that His Highness Louis made you feel crushed, and you want to try another path."

"No, Louis won't be the key to my decision; I agreed simply because Vestis offered enough."

Alice gently raised her left hand, which was dangling off the sofa, and chuckled:

"Moreover, it's not a matter of my agreement anymore; Vestis's Blade is already in a completely new form. Even if our Goddess is usually indifferent to people, she is now curious enough to come down and take a look."

"Alright then, since you put it that way..." He shook his head, saying nothing more.

Being Vestis's divine choice is no easy job.

The Goddess of Magic and Death isn't strictly a conventional deity.

She's both good and evil, but thankfully quite protective; she doesn't greatly affect the Star Continent.

As her divine choice, one should be prepared for her personal descent and possession.

Yet, their little sister is exceptionally bold; after learning about this, she laughed and said:

"That's even better, it's like having an extra trump card."

...

The team heading to the Monet Kingdom was organized within five days.

Various forces gathered in the Lokeshi Empire, more numerous than expected.

Initially, the forces intended to assemble a hundred-person team to depart for support.

This hundred included only demigods, legends, and less than ten paragons.

However, they later found that the situation in Monet Kingdom was worse than anticipated.

To prevent unpredictable incidents, they decided to relax restrictions on personnel going.

Thus, an elite group of a thousand was formed.

The minimum level was 14, including even peak-level demigods at LV40.

Frankly speaking, if this team ignites a war on Monet Kingdom's land, it may turn into an "annihilation war."

Just a friendly reminder, the minimum level of 14 was because Alice was among the lowest-ranked in profession level.

This mighty group, upon arriving in the Monet Kingdom, still was shocked by the scene.

They had never seen such terrible conditions.

Looking around, ruins and newly erected tents were everywhere.

Louis quietly watched the scene, unsurprised.

The Cosmic Serpent's size, merely flying across the sky, produced storms strong enough to flatten the ground.

The only consolation was that the serpent's body was too massive.

Before it even reached here, the citizens understanding the constantly disastrous situation on Star Continent prepared self-protective measures firsthand.

Though it didn't seem to change collapsing buildings, it somewhat increased survival chances.

Upon stepping on Monet Kingdom's soil, Louis could smell the pervasive scent of burning.

That was from corpse handlers cremating bodies in the town ruins.

If they didn't cremate the bodies timely, an epidemic could break out even if they didn't turn undead.

At that point, it wouldn't be about losing a couple of lives.

"East Monet is going mad," someone said sternly, "they just emerged from the mire of war, haven't signed the peace treaty for long, and now this happens again."

"As if West Monet would fare much better, despite the Cosmic Serpent flying from East Monet, West Monet still suffered massive destruction."

"...I suddenly conceived a terrifying idea."

"I also had a thought."

"What you are saying wouldn't be…"

"East Monet's damage is more severe, that's a fact, shifting the balance from equal to west strong east weak, West Monet might consider using external forces to try to reunite the two countries."

Generally speaking, merging the two countries is extremely unlikely.

But listening to these people, Louis pondered.

East and West Monet Kingdoms' current situation was worse than imagined.

Besides, given the imbalance of power, having been one country before with identical cultural identity, the emergence of a powerful external force might succeed in piecing them back together.

With the Cosmic Serpent's threat, survival itself is a pressing issue, rendering merger of lesser importance.

However...

"But nobody told me they would suddenly come looking for me!"

Louis looked helplessly at the messengers arriving at their encampment.

Their reserve was at the semi-rural border between the two kingdoms.

It was closer to the fabled "Eye of Terror," the[giant hollow] blasted out by the Cosmic Serpent.

Before settling, Louis flew directly into the sky.

From above, a vast, deep abyss stretched down into the darkness.

The scene was truly terrifying, imagine a mountain-sized black hole appearing above the land, what a fearsome sight that would be.