All pain was gone, and darkness was not allowed to remain. When the blazing sun rose, night had no right to resist its retreat, and before the most divine and sacred presence carrying the radiant Solar Crown halo, only what the light permitted was left behind. Radiance poured like a vast flood, washing over every body in an instant, cleansing all filth here and reaching every hidden corner where darkness once lingered.
Those fallen ones who had been committing evil withdrew on their own before He rose, leaving not even bone or blood behind. Those who had been suffering gained redemption the moment He descended. The light was fierce yet not blinding, and Elvin vaguely understood that it was not because the radiance lacked the power to dazzle, but because He allowed them to feel this light as a sign of grace.
As she felt that glow, her whole body seemed to return to its original, complete state, like resting in warm water inside a Bathtub. A deep sense of safety spread through her, as if every cell was telling her the same thing. There was no need to worry, because the blazing sun had already arrived.
After a short while, Elvin could no longer feel any pain. Her body still could not move much, but she was able to turn her head and take a look. At the same time, she scolded herself for such greed, daring to be curious about the face of a god, yet her reverence and faith pushed her to do it anyway.
As expected, He looked just like the simple image passed down through murals, statues, poems, and scriptures. He wore flowing White Tier cloth that trailed down to the ground, with golden branches wrapped around His hands and feet. Even where He stood, the ground received this blessing and turned into a field of golden green, every blade of grass rejoicing.
In His hand was a simple, plain long-handled hammer that looked faintly familiar to Elvin. Above that was the most radiant and sacred face. For a moment, she felt as if she were seeing three suns, with an immense great sun rotating behind Him, manifesting as a brilliant Solar Crown that circled endlessly, while pure White Tier hair was adorned with laurel leaves shining with golden Gold Rank light.
His face was expressionless, His eyes bright and clear with flowing light. Those two suns seemed hidden within His eyes, less brilliant than the great sun behind Him but impossible to ignore. Exquisite and holy Solar Crown patterns were etched into His pupils, with a spot of vivid crimson red at the very center.
As the only one present who could directly look upon the face of this noble god, Elvin should have felt honored, and in truth she did. Gratitude and fervent faith kept rising in her heart, but after looking more closely, she froze slightly. Something about that face felt off.
She was not sure, so she looked again. She only blinked, because rubbing her eyes in such a setting would have been far too improper. Even this hesitation and repeated glance already felt blasphemous, and she wondered what she was doing.
Yet the impact of that face was too strong, and Elvin could not help herself. She even wondered if her mind was still affected by some strange curse from the Abyss Cultists. If her vision and senses were not distorted and everything she saw was real, then removing all the surrounding effects and combining the traits associated with the Lord led to a shocking conclusion.
That White-Haired Girl, those golden eyes, the hammer in His hand, and that familiar Holy Light she had felt more than once. She spoke with disbelief, her voice barely forming the words. "Al… White Tier?"
Hearing the sound, He looked over. In His gaze there was none of the familiar lingering shadow, only an indescribable quality that made one feel like an ant gazing up at a mountain, a bird flying toward the sky, or a creature on the ground looking at the sun above. It felt unreachable yet everywhere at once, and Elvin was certain He was watching her, with a subtle change appearing in His eyes.
His hand even seemed to lift slightly. She wondered what He was about to do. At that moment, Belial finally snapped back to his senses.
He let out a breath in lingering fear, relieved that he had managed to control it, even though braking all the way here had been extremely unpleasant. "Damn, I lost control a bit just now and went too fast. I think I hit something."
"But I checked beforehand. That route had nothing but those damn roaches and rats, no one else at all, so it should be fine, right?" Belial recalled what had just happened. The moment he recovered a bit of strength, he could not wait and launched himself using the Charged Particle Cannon method.
He had done this often in the past, but this time he had ignored the fact that his body was no longer the tens-of-thousands-of-tons Great Beast. It was just a human body weighing a few dozen kilograms. As a result, he boosted his speed a bit too much.
The outcome was that his entire body became a living cannonball. He smashed through countless objects along the way, burst straight into the outer forest, and even punched through several mountains. Only after carving out a massive trench several kilometers long and hundreds of meters wide did he barely manage to stop, tearing apart a large section of forest and collapsing mountain peaks in the process.
Although his body was not seriously injured, his appearance was another matter. Even with a hastily applied shield, it was hard to hold up, leaving his clothes in tatters like rags. Nothing indecent was exposed, but it looked terrible, making him resemble a beggar.
There was also a tree branch hanging from his head, apparently dragged out of the forest and stuck in his hair. Belial had been about to test whether he could lift his hand and use Reorganization to tidy up his appearance. Just as he raised his hand, he heard a voice nearby.
Turning his head, he saw the NPC target he was looking for lying on the ground, staring at him with a strange look. Belial froze at once. The situation felt awkward, with him looking so miserable and the other person lying there, making it hard to tell who was worse off.
This counted as meeting someone familiar, even if it was someone else's acquaintance and not his. If he reached up to fix the branch and his clothes now, his image would completely collapse. That would not do, because even using someone else's account, he could not afford to embarrass them.
He quickly came up with a plan and spoke while keeping his hand raised. "First, let me check the situation. Looks like the wounds were healed by my area effect, so no need to worry. Wait, there seems to be another person buried in the crowd."
He had not forgotten that the mission markers indicated two targets. This free hand now had a purpose. With a gentle use of Gravity Manipulation, he parted the crowd and pulled out the already dead Raina.
"Ah, with injuries like this, it was fatal and beyond saving. Looks like she died completely about five minutes ago." Belial could tell at a glance that this person was truly dead. After another look, he confirmed that the soul was still there and the memories had not dispersed, so it was only a matter of repairing fatal injuries, which was no big problem.
During the process of repairing the bodies, Belial glanced at the two of them again and frowned. "Wait, the source of the call credits. Why are they coming from you two?" He felt confused and checked more carefully, confirming that the credits were being sent directly to him, clearly aimed at him.
That meant these two were his believers. He sucked in a breath and muttered, "What did I even do to make you believe in me, with my image like this? Are you serious?" He then added, "And how did you even connect with my friend's network?"
Curious, Belial made a small movement. Light silently seeped into their souls, pulling out several recent visual fragments tied to strong emotional fluctuations. Skipping past a lot of fighting scenes, he saw bits of their daily life together and the final moment when Alba used Teleportation to leave.
Especially after seeing that last part, he finally understood why they had specifically summoned him. "Not bad, you two," he said with approval. Then he quickly looked away, because this Lady Envoy was unbelievably weak in everyday terms, to the point of being unable to beat his newborn self.
He had thought she would at least be capable of supporting him in a high-level situation, or at least not be troubled by such low-level enemies. Instead, he found someone with absurd support ability but pitiful personal strength. Judging by raw power alone, even his two believers could probably beat Lady Envoy easily, making the gap feel ridiculous.