Night fell, and the moon was hidden in the clouds.
Outside Nafplion, the winds of Silvermoon City couldn't reach here, and Hebe, who was softly chanting, was still unaware.
In the unseen, rules resonated with the song, and the power of Youth cleansed the spring water before her.
Although for the God who truly governed Youth, these chants were not a necessary part of the ritual, Hebe did not slacken.
Because just as dance was the gift the most ancient priests offered to God, Hebe's chants were her offering to her Mother Goddess, in return for Hera's personal blessing:
In the name of the Guardian of Marriage, you shall have a husband whose courage and Wisdomare unmatched, and whose renown spreads across the Earth and Sky.
"Praise be to you, loyal wife."
"Praise be to you, loving Mother Goddess."
Whispering silently, as a poem concluded, Hebe slowly rose.
The ritual would continue for a few more days, and she could rest for a while during the night… However, at this very moment, though nothing had happened, an inexplicable sense of dread suddenly surged into her heart.
"Wh—"
Before she could react, Hebe instinctively wanted to call for help.
But at the same time, the omen of Death seemed to be right before her eyes.
Fear instantly gripped her heart, and Hebe seemed to already see her own corpse… Under this unprecedented stimulation, the instinct for survival directly activated the divine power hidden beneath her divine body.
Whoosh—
Manifesting with a thought, it isolated inside from outside.
In an instant, a faint golden divine radiance enveloped the surroundings, cutting off everything from the outside world.
Fear was dispelled from her heart, and although the Goddess of Youth, who had regained her reason, immediately felt regret, she also felt a sense of relief as she sensed the divine power around her.
After today, she would likely suffer severe damage. But no matter what, no mortal power could break through her divine power shield.
With this last bit of time, she would be able to safely return to the divine mountain. By then, she would definitely report to her Mother Goddess and make sure this madman who dared to attack her suffered eternal punishment!
Turning abruptly, Hebe wanted to see the assailant's face before leaving.
But at this very moment, an invisible domain instantly unfolded.
It covered the entire spring, the entire Nafplion, and all living beings in this space.
And in the center of this domain, the Goddess of Youth seemed to have become a frozen photograph, where even the slightest expression was lifelike, yet she could not move an inch.
Buzz—
[Ten-Ring Wizardry · Shadow of Death]!
[Ten-Ring Wizardry · Time Stop]!
[Ten-Ring Wizardry · Great Space Lock]!
On a distant desolate mountain, the old man's face seemed to have aged even more in that instant.
Slowly retracting his outstretched finger, he looked at the distant, seemingly static scene and couldn't help but sigh slightly.
This is a God… Even a God who controls Youth, her divine power is enough to resist any mortal force.
In fact, if Astraeus had not first been struck by the Lord of Ten Thousand Demons until his divine power collapsed, and then had his newly generated divine power continuously absorbed by the Artificial Magic Net, then the God of Stars would not have been able to be imprisoned by them at all.
To contend with a true God as a Wizard, perhaps the Goddess of the Magic Web before she became a God could… However, facing this unbreakable barrier, the old man was not discouraged.
Because he knew that hunting a God was a hurdle he had to face.
Taking a step, passing through an invisible portal, the old man stood in the Sky, looking down at the Earth.
Beneath his feet, Hebe, enveloped in a divine power shield, was like a sculpture, yet the laws of the present world had not yet arrived.
Without any surprise, the old man knew very well that the power of Time Stop could not actually affect the time of a God who had unleashed divine power.
Therefore, few people knew that the true purpose of this wizardry was not to pause time, but to 'accelerate time'.
When everything in this domain was accelerated by thousands or tens of thousands of times, the only thing not accelerated, Hebe, was equivalent to having her time paused.
Thus, it seemed like a long time had passed, but in reality, if he could not actively break through the opponent's divine power shield, the old man's actions today would have already failed.
Fortunately, as he said before, the truly crucial person today was never himself.
Only another God could contend with a God.
"A city, millions of lives."
"Your city-state prospered and grew because of the Queen of Heaven's daughter, so now to die because of her, it must be a fitting end."
His voice was calm. In that city, besides the original commoners and nobles, there were also believers who had gathered for the annual descent of the Queen of Heaven, and tens of thousands of divine descendants personally captured by the old man's students.
They used to be scholars and nobles, or perhaps judges or knights.
But now, they had only one identity.
"That is a sacrifice."
Raising his hand again, ancient and complex array patterns spread along the city walls, eventually covering the entire city.
In the center of the ritual, a speck of starlight shone brightly.
"With your lives and all you possess, I respectfully offer them to the Father of Stars, the Light of the Fallen Sky, the great son of the Titans, the venerable and immortal Astraeus!"
"Since the Gods were the beginning of your glory…"
"Then they shall also be the end of all you are."
The ritual officially began to operate. Standing on the nameless desolate mountain, the old man pointed his finger down.
Everything belonging to humans could be sacrificed, but a portion of what belonged to a God had to remain.
So, under his manipulation, within Nafplion, as the sacrificial fire burned on the bodies of the divine descendants, imperceptible divine blood essence silently remained before them.
…
Silvermoon City, Abandoned District.
Underground palace.
Bones piled up, endless.
Stepping on the hills formed by stacked bones, Great Wizard Erwin moved forward.
Flickering candlelight brought some light to this massive space, but when the flickering flames reflected in the hellish underground palace, the light instead became an accomplice to the darkness.
Expressionless, the middle-aged man was initially very uncomfortable with the scene before him.
However, as his teacher's most obedient disciple, facing the increasingly frail and unwilling old man, he could only take on all the experiments that required personal handling.
Once, twice, thrice… As the number increased, he grew accustomed to it.
Until today, he could calmly dissect the abdominal cavity of a beast, extract a divine descendant embryo that was only a few months old alive, and then, while maintaining the lives of both, extract the most essential [Life Remnant Fluid] from it, which forms during the conception and birth of a living being.
Or, he would conduct even more forbidden experiments after meals… the kind that, if a mortal heard even a little, they might not be able to sleep for days.
Time… truly is the greatest power in this world.
Before a sufficiently long period of time, anything can be adapted to.
Sometimes, Erwin also wondered.
When exactly did he, an honest and diligent youth, embark on such a path?
"…I don't remember."
"But teacher is right."
"As long as there is endless time, an ant can also become a dragon."
"I'll think about it properly once I gain eternal Life… First, I'll finish what teacher assigned me."
Shaking off the chaotic thoughts in his mind, Erwin stepped onto the high platform piled with bones.
Seemingly finally noticing the arrival, the figure, pierced by writhing fleshy tubes, trembled slightly and slowly raised its skull-like head.
"Your Highness Astraeus, the esteemed God of Stars, I have come to see you again."
"…"
Bang—
"To thank you for your tireless dedication, providing me with countless descendants, and even not sparing your own divine body, I have come again to offer you sacrifices."
Bang—
"This is the reverence of mortals for you, our humble contribution to the esteemed God—wait, I know you are impatient, but please don't move yet."
Bang bang—
"You still have to wait a little longer for your sacrifices to arrive… And once you taste those highly nourishing blood meals, a new batch of female beasts will be waiting for your favor."
Bang bang bang—
"Don't rush… I know you are impatient. But in many cases, waiting is also a virtue."
Clang—!
Unable to make a sound, the withered body frantically crashed against the invisible barrier, yet he remained unable to move it in the slightest.
Watching all this, the middle-aged man remained expressionless, as if the tone of his words just now had not come from him at all.
Erwin knew that at this moment, the God of Stars only had his hearing barely functioning; he couldn't see Erwin's appearance at all.
And with his brain currently corroded by blood sacrifice and covered by hatred, it was impossible for him to calmly consider Erwin's purpose.
In the past, to avoid wasting the sacrifices that were so difficult to collect and to prevent the God's precious power from being consumed in the struggle against the Artificial Magic Net, Erwin had always avoided further stimulating the other party's mind.
But at this moment, his words were sharp as a knife.
From descriptions of the Gods' lives on Earth to the 'touching anecdotes' that occurred during his experiments.
Time passed minute by minute, and the middle-aged man coldly watched the increasingly weak, yet increasingly angry and desperate God.
He gained no pleasure from it, but this was his mission.
His voice echoed in the empty underground palace; the words of a mortal and the struggles of a God played out a symphony.
Until a certain moment, the void around the Artificial Magic Net slightly vibrated, and streaks of crimson leaked through.
"…Hmm? It seems it's time."
"Your esteemed Highness, your grand feast has arrived."
A mocking tone, a cold gaze.
At some unknown point, the field of Time Stop, which had long been prepared, opened here, and even with the existence of the Artificial Magic Net, Astraeus was easily enveloped within the accelerated time.
Under the middle-aged man's gaze, the shriveled body in the center of the underground palace began to recover at a speed visible to the naked eye.
This is a God… even after being tormented for a thousand years, once there is enough divine power, injuries to the body can be easily healed.
It's just that Erwin knew, according to past rules, that at this point, the sacrifice could be concluded.
After all, the blood sacrifice of mortals was to replenish the divine body's vitality, not to allow the God of Stars to recover his power and gain the possibility of breaking free from them.
To prevent this from happening, the quantity of sacrifices in the past had been meticulously chosen—however, this time was different from before.
In the center of the underground palace, an endless stream of blood sacrifice power seeped out from the void.
They surged into Astraeus's body, vying for precedence, and then, with the beating of his pulse, alleviated the dryness of every inch of his meridians and flesh.
At the same time, as the target of the sacrifice, a resentment hundreds of times stronger than before also acted upon the God of Stars's mind, causing his already strained sanity to once again crumble.
At this moment, feeling the power of the blood sacrifice, which for some unknown reason was many times stronger than before, Astraeus instinctively channeled all of his divine power.
Even if his newly restored, full body were to lose vitality again, even if the suppression of the laws in the unseen world would descend the moment his divine power left his body, at this instant, when the 'mistake' of mortals he had waited for a thousand years finally appeared, the God of Stars unhesitatingly chose to make a desperate gamble.
...Human...Human—!
"Ah— — — — — —!"
"I— —want— —you— —to— —die— —!"
Starlight exploded, tearing the Artificial Magic Net 'easily'.
It directly pierced through everything in front of it, broke the accelerated time field here, and passed through 'Erwin's' body.
Then, under the middle-aged man's calm expression, it continued backward, shooting into the already open spatial gate.
...
Outside Nafplion City, everything remained as it was.
All things stood still, only the old man stood in the Sky.
At some unknown point, hundreds of rhomboid crystal pillars, fully charged, were arranged around him, and an extremely dark crystal was held in his hand.
A spatial gate opened in front of the Goddess of Youth, and an unimaginable elemental tide surged in the surrounding void.
Time Stop, it stretched one second of real time into one day in the old man's eyes.
Even if its true duration was less than one-tenth of a second, even if its use was heavily restricted, in the current human world, this was the sharpest spear and shield in the hands of the Great Wizards.
Even though it wasn't the first time he had experienced this power, the old man couldn't help but marvel at the greatness of time again.
If this wizardry were not tenth-ring, but could be sublimated by someone to the twelfth-ring domain… then even if it were not in the human world, it would be enough to shock true Gods with its power, right?
However, no one could achieve this step, because wizardry originated from the analysis and imitation of all things, but since there was no immortal who controlled time in this world, even the Goddess of the Magic Web could only sigh in admiration.
Buzz—
"Hmm?"
"Finally, it's here."
His spirit stirred slightly, and his face became solemn.
Feeling the fluctuations of the spatial gate, the old man drank the last 'Star Blood' in one gulp, then crushed the black crystal in his hand.
The next moment, the field of Time Stop shattered with a roar, and a beam of starlight, piercing through everything, emerged from the gate.
Beside the old man, the true apprentice rushed over, looking with lingering fear at the starlight that had torn apart his flesh puppet.
And from the perspective of the Goddess of Youth, her vision merely blurred for a moment, and a pillar of light, imbued with anger, killing intent, and madness, crashed into her.
In an instant, divine power clashed with divine power, and Hebe, who had originally planned to flee back to the God Mountain, stopped in her tracks.
At the same time, hundreds of dazzling streams of light streaked across the Sky, heading towards the direction of the Goddess of Youth.
With a flick of his finger, the black crystal used as a casting material turned into dust, then silently re-condensed beside Hebe.
Almost the instant the divine power shield and the starlight shattered simultaneously, a swirling black spatial vortex merged with the form of the Goddess of Youth.
Counter-Illumination
Regeneration Suppression
Divinity Penetration
Weakness Detection
Protection Disintegration
...
Eleventh-ring Wizardry: Collapse Singularity!
Space silently shattered, mercilessly tearing at the God's body.
Under the casting techniques honed by the White Tower's chief for over a thousand years, even if Hebe's divine power shield had still been present, she likely would not have been able to endure it unscathed.
Watching this scene unfold, the old man knew that the easiest part of this 'God Hunting Project' was complete.
The Goddess of Youth could no longer escape; she was not a God of Intermediate Divine Power or higher, and did not have the opportunity to use divine power a second time in the human world at the cost of backlash.
Nor was she one of those Gods skilled in War; even without counting the part belonging to a God, she was still a top-tier demigod in the human world.
Weak will, loose techniques, almost no power to resist throughout the entire process… If she were human and not a God, such a human, even if born into nobility, would probably not even have the chance to become a high-level professional.
When the Eleventh-ring Great Wizardry crushed her last ability to resist, she was already a captive.
However, the old man knew that the core of the entire 'God Hunting Project' had never been about how to deal with a Goddess of Youth who had no will to fight, but rather how to escape the potential wrath of the God Court afterwards, how to make himself disappear from the eyes of the Gods, and how to nip all accidents in the bud.
Although all of the above were merely 'possibilities', perhaps Olympus would ignore Hebe's disappearance, just as they dealt with the God who was imprisoned by mortals for decades… but the old man wanted certainty, not possibility.
Especially when everything finally settled, the old man couldn't help but recall the beginning of why the 'God Hunting Project' came into being.
...Hebe, do you know, I originally didn't intend to go this far.
Although I crave your 'Youth' and your power so much, these are not reasons for me to take risks… We should have lived in peace, not met with blades.
Shaking his head helplessly, a hint of fatigue flashed in the old man's eyes.
As he said, he was never one to advocate 'seeking wealth in danger'. If possible, he would rather accumulate victories with eternal Life than fantasize about reaching the Sky in one step.
"What a great opportunity… Let the angels behind the church and Olympus fight to the Death, gaining knowledge and accumulating power in the Gods' War."
"Ultimately, when they bring about a true great War, a conflict that sweeps the world like the Typhon Disaster, and then wait until the outcome is clear, wouldn't that be good?"
"We already have experience, and we understand Gods. This time, even without an unlucky God like the God of Stars, we can 'create' one… 'create' a God no one cares about, who ultimately falls into our hands, even more than one."
"If that day truly comes, as the daughter of the God King and Queen, even if you fail, I would never set my sights on you."
"It's just a pity, your luck isn't good, and my luck isn't very good either… Our luck isn't good."
"Teacher."
Beside the old man, seemingly noticing his teacher's murmuring lips, the middle-aged man stepped forward and respectfully asked.
"Teacher, we have finally succeeded… Do you have any instructions?"
...Nothing, there's nothing left.
Sighing, without looking at the student beside him, the old man stroked his chest.
"I succeeded, but there's nothing left to instruct."
"I'm just suddenly a bit emotional… If only you all had been a little more ambitious, how would we have come to this point today?"
...
Posted an hour ago, let me add a bit more.
The spell levels in this book are not completely one-to-one with D&D, because I've always felt that classification lacked mathematical beauty. The specific content has actually been loosely mentioned before, but never systematically explained.
Originally in D&D, first-ring is level 1, second-ring is level 3, and so on, ninth-ring is level 17, and then it starts jumping, so in this book it's like this:
If the mortal stage is divided into four tiers, with five levels per tier, then levels 1-4, 6-9, 11-14, 16-19 respectively possess 1-8 ring spellcasting ability, following a +3+2 pattern. Ninth-ring is Legendary Five-tier, tenth-ring is High Legendary Six-tier, eleventh-ring is Demigod Seven-tier, and twelfth-ring is an existence that touches the God's domain, considered an overpowered stage, not for normal people. Also, spells of the same tier generally have higher lethality, because spells leverage external forces, while combatants basically rely on their own abilities without becoming a God.
Overall, although some settings are stitched together from reasonable parts of D&D, it does not mean that the rules of a tabletop game are the truth of this book. The specific settings are subject to the internal logic of this book. If there are any objections, please question based on previous settings in this book, not content I have not written. That is all.