Outside Frayins City, the mutilated corpses rose one after another, staggering to both sides to clear the path, their hollow, lifeless eyes fixed on the Feysac people emerging from the city.
Noel Kam, the Archbishop of the Church of the God of Combat, holding a broken horn, suppressed the disgust in his heart. He glanced around at the Zombies and the Highland Resistance Army hidden further back, snorted coldly, but ultimately dared not utter any threats. He escorted the fleeing believers northward toward the primeval forest bordering the Intis colony.
Looking down at the gradually receding crowd, Varna turned his head to Reinette Tinekerr, who had already dispelled her Mythical Creature Form, and instructed:
"Peter Einhorn I is just one step away from truly advancing to 'Conqueror.' Once He succeeds, that God of Combat will likely take action. So, after this matter is settled, I will head to the Amanda Mountains."
"I know your and Astolfo's conditions have been affected, so you need not participate in Northern Continent affairs. Stabilizing the situation in West Balam and consolidating faith is now your most urgent task. As for the diocese established by the Earth Mother's church in the southern part of the Star Plateau, ignore it for now."
Reinette Tinekerr, dressed in a gloomy, intricate black dress, nodded silently. Although the Mother Tree of Desire's plan to fully control the 'Devil Monarch' Farbauti by using the malice from George III's fall to catalyze the Abyss had failed, it had allowed the 'Chained God' to enter the Abyss.
The Abyss's troublesome nature allowed the Mother Tree of Desire to recklessly use the special properties of the 'Chained God's' Uniqueness, systematically spreading corruption and curses from the Abyss and Outer Deities, without worrying about being tracked and located by the gods.
If Astolfo, with the status of King of Angels, had not borne the majority of the corruption by leveraging part of the 'Mutant' authority, and if Reinette Tinekerr, who had restored her body to its peak, had not taken on the remaining corruption, all members of the Temperance Faction below the angel level would have been at risk of losing control and falling at any moment.
Unlike Roselle back then, the corruption from the Nation of Disorder, which belongs to a non-adjacent Pathway, would only accelerate Astolfo's loss of control. Aaron could only help Him maintain His condition by suppressing it with the rules of law and the influence of a tributary of the River of Eternal darkness.
Fortunately, Astolfo had already separated the 'Ancient Bane' Beyonder characteristic from the traits of the 'Abomination' Suah, and entrusted Bornova to forge it into a special Grade 0 Sealed Artifact. Once Sharron fully digested the potion of 'Disciple of Silence,' the Temperance Faction could gain another angel to share the pressure.
In the Nation of Disorder, Aaron, wearing a nine-layered crown with His face completely replaced by a dark golden halo, playfully curled the corner of His mouth.
Having observed the entire scene through True Vision, He sensed the gaze cast from the Astral World. Although that God of Combat did not truly respond to His archbishop's prayers, He was not indifferent either, weighing the pros and cons and tacitly approving Peter Einhorn I's actions.
Dispelling the True Vision, Aaron looked down at the nine Tomb phantom images gradually becoming new focal points of the nascent Divine Kingdom. He did not relax due to the God of Combat's concession, soberly whispering to Himself:
"Endurance does not mean submission; it is only to accumulate strength for the final counterattack..."
At most in half a year, He could fully digest the newly accommodated 'Hand of Order' potion. But that God of Combat would clearly not give Him such an opportunity, nor could He tolerate the Evernight Goddess attempting to accommodate the Death's Uniqueness to advance further.
"It's still too rushed..."
After a long silence, Aaron lightly exhaled, His gaze turning resolute:
"There is only one chance. At worst, I can force an advancement like the God of Steam and Machinery, leaving some flaws that can be remedied later."
"Compared to that lucky one, my greatest advantage is possessing the Nation of Disorder. With the suppression of this Sefirah, I can eliminate the subsequent risks."
"Moreover, the most critical Uniqueness has already been accommodated through a simplified Apotheosis Ritual. Having experienced the impact brought by Characteristic Convergence, doing it again will only be more effortless..."
In the Astral World, woven from various abstract concepts and symbolic signs, within the natural barrier formed by the manifestation of a Divine Kingdom.
The 'Earth Mother,' plump, soft, and full of maternal radiance, slowly stood up. Her gentle gaze turned outside the Divine Kingdom, and She raised Her right hand, which was not holding an invisible infant.
The natural barrier, intertwined with deep brown vines, collapsed inward, immediately revealing a gap.
A strand of light resembling a sunset, carrying the decaying aura of all things withering, instantly poured in, landing steadily in the 'Earth Mother's' open right hand, revealing the blood-stained, gray-blue scroll contained within.
As the embers of dusk dissipated, strange refractions intertwined, coalescing into a massive figure nearly ten meters tall.
Its skin was gray-blue, clad in silver-gray armor stained with blood-like spots, with a face replaced by a light resembling a sunset.
This was not the 'God of Combat' Badheil, but the Giant King, the Ancient God Aurmir, who had long fallen in ancient epochs!
"Skin stripped from Aurmir's remains..."
Seeing through the essence of this item, the 'Earth Mother' frowned imperceptibly, then silently broke the scroll's seal.
A 'Notary Document' inscribed on the skin of an Ancient God, composed of various concepts, authorities, and symbols, immediately appeared.
The words 'Divine Contract,' formed from pure light, stood prominently at the top. Below were the contract terms outlined by various symbolic signs, with the core content being an offensive and defensive alliance among the gods signing the contract, united against external threats.
As the strongest 'Notary,' the contract formulated by the 'Eternal Blazing Sun' was extremely rigorous, with almost no loopholes to exploit.
Her gentle gaze slightly wavered as the 'Earth Mother' looked below the intricate and strict terms, where the large blank space reserved was now mostly occupied by two names.
"Aucuses... Badheil..."
Softly uttering those two names, the 'Earth Mother' seemed to see, through the corresponding symbolic signs, a fiercely burning golden Sun emitting sacred light and a massive orange-red phantom dragging dusk along.
Two gazes, established through the connection formed by chanting the 'True Names,' immediately turned toward Her. After the 'Earth Mother' slightly raised Her head to meet their eyes, the light in Her beautiful face grew even more gentle and benevolent. She raised Her right hand, using Her finger as a pen, and wrote a line of Jotun in the gap in the middle of the 'Divine Contract':
"Omabella!"
As the final stroke was made, under the gaze of the three gods, this 'Divine Contract' made from Ancient God skin immediately ignited into fierce flames, dissipating into pure light. An intangible yet sufficiently tangible sense of constraint Emerging.
When the flames dissipated, the natural barrier closed, and the gazes from the Astral World withdrew, the 'Earth Mother' softly sighed, with a mix of reminiscence and playfulness, repeating that name once more:
"Omabella..."