On a floating island, a white-haired girl lay quietly at the center of a lush lawn. A red, smiling mask hovered around her, occasionally letting out bursts of eerie laughter.
Just then, the girl slowly awoke, only to discover with horror that this was not the room she was familiar with. Gazing at the strange yet vaguely familiar surroundings, she fell into deep thought. After a while, she posed a soul-searching question:
"Isn't this the Serenitea Pot... but without Tubby or the mansion? How did I get here? And why has my hair turned white? My clothes have changed too—this isn't what I wore last night.
Wait, no... these clothes look so familiar. Just like... like Furina's!"
She raised her head in shock, her blue eyes wide with disbelief.
"Don't tell me I transmigrated into Furina and ended up inside the Serenitea Pot? No way. What exactly happened last night? How did I even transmigrate?"
Sitting cross-legged on the ground, she strained to recall the outrageous events of the previous day.
Vaguely, she remembered spending over two hundred pulls on Furina's banner, only to get three copies. Staring at her C5 Furina, she felt that aside from her heart being cold, everything else was flushed red.
Unwilling to accept defeat, she threw in her final ten-pull. Specks of starlight flashed, and a blue shadow descended from afar. But strangely, this time the screen didn't switch from second-person to third-person perspective—she clearly saw what was falling.
A train was rushing toward her. Most bizarrely, the train's head was wearing a red, smiling mask.
Then the train burst out of the screen and barreled toward her—who was outside the screen—before everything went black. She woke up here... So, she was hit by the Astral Express driven by Aha...? If Aha was involved, then nothing was too surprising.
As she pondered, the red smiling mask suddenly appeared in front of her and zoomed toward her. Just as she looked up, she saw it rapidly approaching and instinctively leapt to the side.
"No way, again?"
Her answer came in the form of snickering laughter from the mask, which had stopped just ahead of where she'd been: "Ahahaha…"
Hearing the laughter, she turned to see the mask suspended in the air and tentatively called out, "Aha?"
"What is it, calling out my name?" Though it was only a smiling mask, its demeanor suggested crossed arms and a lofty gaze. But three seconds later...
"Sigh, I can't learn that kind of divinity from that emotionless figure. That might be Aha's only flaw."
Girl: ...That's one of your few good points.
Watching Aha, who couldn't stay serious for more than three seconds, the girl silently swallowed her complaints. Right now, the most important thing was figuring out why he brought her here.
Before she could ask, Aha declared the reason himself:
"I found a magical universe in your phone, but there's too little Elation there. That doesn't align with my aesthetic, so I'm going to bring Elation there."
In my phone? The girl suddenly remembered the novel Slay the Gods she had just finished reading on her Novel app. Surely not that world? No—if she went there, she'd just be a snack for Mystery!
Also, Aha, where did you even get an aesthetic of Elation? Did you borrow it from Destruction next door?
"And you... I thought you were some kind of speed bump. Why were you in front of my train? But Aha is a compassionate god, so Aha won't make you pay for the train. You'll go to that world and spread Elation to repay me."
The girl stared speechlessly at Aha, who was explaining and laughing maniacally at the same time. Was I in your way? But she was too embarrassed (and terrified) to call Aha out.
"So I'm supposed to rely on those three little ones to Slay the Gods and spread Elation? The four of us together wouldn't even half-fill Mystery's stomach."
In Teyvat, I could call them the three bullies. But outside Teyvat, they're just three little ones.
"No, no, no—not 'us,' just 'you.' Aha won't be eaten by Mystery."
The girl gave Aha a deadpan look. She knew better than to expect anything decent from him.
"Of course, Aha wouldn't treat his believers badly. I've prepared a big gift for you, you know."
As he spoke, a gift box appeared between the red mask and the girl.
She didn't open it immediately. Instead, she asked, "Are you so sure I'm your believer?"
Aha clearly hadn't expected that. After a brief pause, he burst into laughter.
"Ahahaha, Aha was actually disliked! Aha is so embarrassed."
The girl, watching him laugh wildly, had clearly anticipated this. Before he could recover, she swiftly snatched the gift box and added, "Clearly, I am. Thank you for the gift, boss."
The sudden reversal caught Aha off guard—his laughter even paused for a moment. But he quickly recovered.
"Ahahaha! The dignified Aeon of Elation was tricked! This is truly hilarious."
She unwrapped the gift box, and a torrent of colorful ribbons burst out, completely covering her in a surprise explosion.
Her mouth twitched as she stared at the box, which contained nothing but ribbons. She stiffly raised her head and glared at the red mask.
"This is the 'big gift' you mentioned?"
"Of course! Do you like it? Aha prepared it especially for you."
"I love it! Thank! You! Boss!" The last four words were practically ground out between clenched teeth.
"Good that you like it, good that you like it. It wasn't in vain that I worked hard for several days. Since my subordinate likes it, then as the boss, I can't spoil the mood.
And I've decided to give you two more gifts."
As he spoke, Aha pulled out a rotating staircase from behind him. At its center stood a golden, human-shaped molten liquid.
The girl, well-versed in miHoYo's gacha games, recognized him at a glance—Mythus, the Aeon of the Path of Enigmata.
The miniature Mythus, after being summoned by Aha, hovered briefly in front of her before vanishing.
Though his appearance was fleeting, she could feel it: the "past" of Slay the Gods had been altered, its "history" hidden, and its "present" subtly shifted.
Simply put, no matter how much she messed around, Azathoth wouldn't notice. She didn't know which cycle it was now, but it didn't matter—she could treat it like the first.
Thanks to Misra's appearance, the past cycles of Slay the Gods were now filled with "possibilities" and "uncertainties." These gaps would directly affect Azathoth's observation of that world.
"All right, my believer, I know you're excited—but don't get too excited just yet. My second big gift is coming."
Note(This is a summary for the Slay the Gods novel for those who have not read it before I myself haven't read much except the first few chapters)
-The protagonist of Slay the Gods is Lin Qiye, a mortal human who lost his sight as a child after witnessing the divine entity Michael, a seraph. He is chosen by Michael to serve as his agent and is granted immense divine power, which he unconsciously uses to maintain The Mortal Divine Domain—a divine ruin that reconstructs and sustains the city of Cangnan City, which was erased ten years prior. Lin Qiye's world is one where ancient mythical beings, such as gods from Greek mythology like Hades and Poseidon, coexist with humans in a modern city, and ordinary humans are tasked with eliminating these supernatural entities.