In the Radiant City.

Before the flowing springs and heavy gates, beautiful Sky Messengers descended one after another, bowing to the female Sky Messenger who rode a Wing Demon.

A group of Sky Messengers gathered around Duma as she opened the wooden boxes she had brought back.

The peculiar items from the Avel City-State filled the Sky Messengers with wonder. They could hardly imagine another intelligent race in this world creating marvels that surpassed the Winged People.

“Is this the Snake People’s coarse weaving?” someone asked while holding up a piece of clothing.

“Not as beautiful as our feather robes. It’s really rough,” a Sky Messenger said while gently touching the coarse fabric’s surface.

Duma explained to them: “But in the Snake People’s city, everyone can wear clothes. They don’t need transcendent power to produce such fabric. An ordinary workshop can make these things.”

Duma picked up a type of vine root plant to show the other Sky Messengers.

“They cultivate this plant called Net Rope Vine to make ropes, nets, and fabric…”

“They use ropes in every aspect of daily life. They weave them into nets for fishing, use them on ships and vehicles, and incorporate them into daily activities.”

“They make the fabric into clothes, bags, blankets, and all sorts of other things.”

The Sky Messengers were curious about the Snake People’s techniques, although some remained skeptical. “Can everyone really wear clothes? Are the Snake People that prosperous?”

This was somewhat of an exaggeration.

In the city, most Avel people wore clothes when going out. The coarse weaving promoted by King Smerkel had indeed become fully integrated into every aspect of Snake People’s lives.

Duma told the Sky Messengers: “Everyone, these things are not complex.”

“What they can do, we can do as well. It is precisely because they are simple and ordinary that they can be used by everyone.”

Some Sky Messengers showed no interest: “These are just things for common people.”

Others listened attentively: “I think these things are quite good. Are there more, Lady Duma?”

After that, Duma took out coiled ferns and the flour, wine, and pastries made from them.

“They can grow plants called Curled Ball Fern themselves, then process them into various foods.”

“These are the different foods they make from the plants they cultivate.”

“Therefore, even without hunting, they can obtain enough food from the land.”

The other Sky Messengers carefully tasted the pastries and sweet wine.

Exclamations of surprise immediately erupted from the crowd. These items shocked them far more than the coarse weaving had.

“So sweet.”

“Is this what those Snake People eat?”

“How do they make these?”

Many people’s views of the Snake People shifted.

Since they could create such delicious food and wine, they must at least be a race with a certain quality of life.

Duma shared with the Sky Messengers what she had gained and observed from her visit to the Avel City-State.

This was why she had brought these items back.

She hoped other Sky Messengers could understand from this perspective that the Snake People were an intelligent species, one capable of communication and possessing creativity.

After displaying everything she had brought back, she asked the other Sky Messengers.

“Where is Mother?”

They replied: “Her Majesty the Queen has been resting in her chambers lately. Perhaps after becoming God’s Apostle, she needs time for enlightenment and cultivation.”

A nearby voice added: “Indeed, we haven’t seen Her Majesty for a long time.”

Duma took out an exquisitely crafted sword with a scabbard from the box. It was contained in a specially made wooden case.

This was reportedly a sword forged by an Alchemist from the City of Fire Protection on Ruhe Beast Island.

She wanted to give it to her mother, the Queen of the Winged People.

Two guards stood at the grand door but did not stop Duma when she arrived. She walked straight inside, passing through the corridor to reach a door.

She knelt outside the door, holding up the wooden case.

“Mother,” she said, “I have returned.”

Melde did not show herself, nor did she invite Duma inside.

“Did you accomplish what I asked you to do?”

Melde’s words referred to her instruction for Duma to intimidate the Snake People, turn them into vassals of the Winged People, and make them believe in the Lord of Radiance.

For this purpose, Melde had even assigned Duma a squad of Sky Messengers.

Duma herself was a Six-Winged Sky Messenger.

Together with the Wing Demon she commanded and an entire squad of Sky Messengers, they would have been enough to greatly intimidate the Avel City-State.

But Duma clearly had her own plans.

She did not intend to create a tense atmosphere from the start.

She still hoped to first establish mutual understanding with the Avel City-State and have a good initial contact.

Then she would use the Winged People’s power and strength to assimilate the Snake People and use the Lord of Radiance’s nobility and mercy to influence them.

She always believed that force should be the last resort.

So she had not brought an entire squad of Sky Messengers as her mother had intended. Instead, she departed alone with only a Wing Demon.

“Though it will take time, I have already taken the first step,” she declared.

“Mother—”

However, a sound came from behind the door: “Bang.”

They could hear Melde throwing something to the ground.

Melde’s voice was filled with anger: “Duma, you have disappointed me greatly.”

Duma raised her head in confusion: “Mother?”

Duma sensed her mother’s fury, but Melde was a God’s Apostle as cold as frost.

The normal Queen Melde of the Winged People was a lofty and aloof person. Even when angry, she carried an icy demeanor.

She had never seen her mother lose composure like this.

And now, Melde’s voice echoed from inside, filled with rebuke.

“You have shown weakness again.”

“No, this is no longer weakness, but cowardice.”

“Your mercy is not just toward the Winged People. Would you extend your meaningless compassion even to those lowly Snake People?”

Duma opened her mouth: “I haven’t…”

“I just wanted to let those Snake People know God’s mercy. I wanted all Winged People—”

Melde’s voice reached the peak of fury: “The divine demands majesty, for God is supreme above all!”

“The divine needs people’s heartfelt awe and devotion, not people believing in God because of what God can give to mortals.”

“Look at what you have done!”

“Are you trying to make deals with the divine, Duma?”

“Do you think that because you are my daughter, you can freely represent the divine?”

Duma had originally wanted to explain her thoughts, but before she could speak, she was rendered speechless.

Duma had not truly communicated with her mother for a long time. It seemed that things had been this way since she was young.

When Duma was young, she had been very close to her mother.

She always remembered how her mother would hold her tightly in her arms, treating her as the world’s most precious treasure.

Duma was a natural-born Sky Messenger.

Unlike other Sky Messengers, who transformed from Winged People through the Sky Trial, she was born transcendent and possessed innate gifts.

However, as she grew up, their relationship became increasingly distant. They argued every time they met.

Duma wanted to repair her relationship with her mother.

Instead of discussing the previous topic, she held up the box in her hands.

“Mother, I brought you a gift.”

Melde only responded: “Just leave it outside.”

“Mother, are you still angry with me?”

Duma could no longer hold back. She spoke to Melde about the past.

“Do you remember when I was little?”

“Back then, in the Radiant City, it was just you and me. You would always hold me as we prayed to the divine together.”

“You told me that God was loving, that God was merciful.”

“You said… God loved me.”

“I have always believed this!”

Duma’s voice grew louder: “If God could love me, then surely God can love everyone in this world.”

“You were the one who taught me this!”

The chamber suddenly fell silent, and this silence lasted for a long time.

When a voice spoke again from behind the door, its tone had softened.

Melde seemed like a different person. Her voice was somewhat weak as she spoke.

“I understand.”

“I am tired. Leave the items by the door.”

With tears in her eyes, Duma placed the items by the door and rose to leave.

Her steps were steady at first, but soon she was running away.

Only then did the chamber door slowly open, and a hand reached for the box Duma had left.

Queen Melde of the Winged People looked at the gift Duma had brought her, her fingers gently caressing the wooden box.

“Duma…”

In the light streaming down from the high windows, one could see that the Winged Queen’s appearance had completely changed. Her once sacred silver hair had turned pure white.

Half of her wings had turned jet black. The dark feathers emanated chaotic power.

Black filth and decay had crept across the walls, ceiling and floor of the chamber.

The various furnishings inside seemed to have endured centuries of time, becoming rotten and corroded.

The bed had transformed into a black mire, like a spider’s web, with tough black strands penetrating the entire chamber. The floor was covered in a tar-like substance.

The entire room exuded an aura of filth, evil, and corruption.

Melde opened the box and, in an instant, saw it rot away.

Melde picked up the sword. At her touch, the sword began to slowly corrode from the hilt. However, Melde released her transcendent power. The powerful force penetrated the sword and corrupted it into a Divine Artifact.

“Of course God loves you, my daughter.”

“You are different.”

“Soon… very soon… the divine will descend into this world.”

“Duma, you will see the true divine.”

Suddenly, her expression changed again.

The calm detachment vanished from Melde’s face as she caressed her belly and spoke softly.

“Soon… soon…”

“It will be soon.”

Sacred sunlight shone into the filthy dark chamber and fell upon the Winged Queen, who was half holy and half fallen.

Melde’s expression was both intoxicated and entranced.

And faintly, there was a hint of an evil, corrupted smile.

In the Radiant City.

The Queen’s chamber.

Wild winds howled in the black night as dense clouds gathered in the sky and rain began to fall.

Yet, in this deep night, the Queen’s personal guard squad suddenly gathered, surrounding the chamber and guarding it with impenetrable security.

Over a dozen Sky Messengers knelt in the corridor, holding the divine seal of the Lord of Radiance.

They chanted sacred hymns repeatedly.

Their songs mingled with the sound of wind and rain, sounding ethereal and distant.

The Queen had not told anyone about the impending descent of the divine, not even her daughter.

She could not allow any accidents during the divine’s descent. She had become chaotic and agitated lately and was unwilling to trust anyone.

She had to ensure the divine’s descent would be flawless.

“Crash!” The wild wind beat against the roof of the Radiant Temple, frantically striking the buildings on the mountaintop.

Inside the chamber, Queen Melde of the Winged People removed her clothes.

Her belly was greatly swollen, with black patterns spreading across her entire body. These patterns carried a forbidden quality.

Her white hair had grown so long that it dragged on the ground, covering her graceful figure.

She spread her four pairs of wings: half were black and half were white.

The sacred and the evil had merged within Melde.

She spread her arms as her form slowly floated into the air, with black strands like hair wrapping around her and enveloping her completely.

Melde slowly embraced her belly while floating in midair, where the “mythical seed” she carried had matured.

It had begun releasing power beyond the maternal body, affecting everything around it.

However, because its power far transcended mortal levels, mortals could barely sense it unless it manifested directly.

“Oh God!”

“Use my body to descend into this world!”

“Bring light to this world, bring dawn and dusk to this world, bring the faith of radiance to this world!”

Melde’s nails cut open her belly, and what flowed out was not blood but endless darkness.

The darkness engulfed everything, surging outward.

Suddenly, thunder cracked in the sky.

The celestial omens grew more intense as mythical power affected the laws and interfered with the order that originally governed this land.

“Boom!”

Lightning connected Fenbuk Mountain and the sky, awakening everyone from their dreams.

Darkness descended.

Although the moon remained in the sky and the palace lamps still burned, all light had vanished.

Melde expectantly lifted what she held in her arms.

In the darkness, her four wings emitted the only light, while the wings on the other side completely merged with the darkness.

However, when she saw what she held, Melde froze instantly.

In her arms was only a deformed mass of flesh, an evil entity that constantly oozed vile black mud.

What was born into this world was neither divine nor truly alive.

It was a mass of filthy flesh, with black mud symbolizing the abyss and evil.

Melde let out a piercing scream filled with endless terror and shattered hope. She stared in disbelief at this filthy thing, an evil mythical embryo that continuously leaked black mud to pollute the world.

“No!” she shrieked. “This is not the Divine!”

Melde broke down.

She looked in disbelief at the deformed mass emanating mythical power in her arms, suddenly awakening from her intoxicated dream.

She looked around and abruptly realized that her once bright and magnificent palace had become an evil den.

The once sacred white wings on her back had been tainted by corruption.

At some point, she had begun to become chaotic and evil.

When she began sacrificing ordinary Winged People to the divine, she had already started an inevitable descent into the abyss.

She raised her head.

Melde saw the Gate of Spirituality in the Dream Realm.

Below that Gate of Spirituality surged a sea of black mud, continuously writhing upward to entangle the foundation of this mythical gate as if to pull it down from the high heavens and bring it into the mortal world.

As Melde awoke, she suddenly understood what she had done.

She had not awakened the divine to descend into this world. Instead, she had corrupted divine light with mortal, filthy desires and evil greed.

“No! I polluted the divine with my own hands. What have I done?”

Nothing could be more terrifying than a devout believer discovering they had defiled the divine. She had destroyed her faith with her own hands, ruining everything she once revered.

Melde could not accept this. Her entire body trembled.

She flapped her wings, trying to fly toward the luminous Gate of Spirituality.

“No… this was not my doing.”

“This is not what I wanted to do.”

But at that moment, Melde suddenly found that she could not move.

She turned her head.

She saw another version of herself clinging to her shoulder, tightly wrapped around her.

The other’s expression was corrupted and evil as she whispered in Melde’s ear.

“This is divine. This is what you longed for, is it not?”

“You did nothing wrong. This is how it should be.”

Melde cried out in despair: “I was wrong, it should not be so!”

Dark Melde said to the broken Melde: “The Lord is the God of Dawn and Dusk, the Master of Light.”

“Where there is day there is night, where there is light there must be darkness.”

“This is God’s dusk form.”

“The divine possesses not only mercy and universal love, but also majesty and wrath.”

“This is the Lord of Radiance’s punishment for those who disrespect the divine, representing God’s majesty and wrath.”

Melde looked at her other self in confusion and asked softly, as if grasping for a final lifeline.

“Is that true?”

Dark Melde’s eyes revealed a smile filled with seductive allure.

“Of course it is true.”

The terror and despair slowly faded from Melde’s face as a smile emerged.

Her lips curved upward.

“So then it is truly…”

“Wonderful.”

Then Dark Melde vanished, becoming a shadow that slipped into Melde’s body.

Black filth continuously seeped from the mass of flesh in Melde’s arms and flowed outward.

“Bang!”

The Sky Messengers kneeling in the outer corridor raised their heads to see black sludge bursting through the door.

Before they could turn around, in the instant their eyes showed terror, they were engulfed and devoured by the black sludge.

Terrible monstrous feathered creatures struggled out of the black sludge one after another.

These monsters had no hands. They had talons for their lower bodies and bird-like heads.

Their huge, heavy wings dragged on the ground. Their black feathers, as hard as steel, gleamed with an inky luster.

These Sky Messengers fell and were corrupted in an instant.

Their spirituality transformed from light to darkness. The same power had given the Sky Messengers beautiful, sacred forms.

This power could also cause them to fall into darkness, transforming them into hideous demons.

They became terrifying Eagle Demons.

These Eagle Demons lost their sanity as their wisdom was drowned by madness.

“Screech!”

They leaped into flight, soaring into the sky and circling in the rain.

Meanwhile, more black mud surged mightily through the corridor and gushed outward.

The black mud continuously assimilated everything, seeking to transform the entire world into an evil, fallen abyss.

Duma had a dream.

She saw the Gate of Spirituality open with a thunderous sound.

She saw an enormous white figure of light standing in the world beyond the gate, so vast that she could not see its entirety.

“Divine?”

Duma stood before the gate and cried out in surprise.

As soon as she spoke and stepped forward, something surged up beneath her feet, tightly entangling her legs.

She looked down.

She saw black sludge swallowing her feet, rendering her unable to move.

Looking around, she saw that the black mud beneath the gate had gathered into a vast sea.

Darkness enveloped the mythical gate, continuously writhing upward.

She dreamed of spirits wailing and making sounds like curses.

“Curse.”

“Curse.”

“The curse… of mortals.”

“Boom.”

With a crack of thunder, Duma awoke from her nightmare.

Outside, it was still night amid howling wind, pouring rain and flashing lightning.

She realized that the thunderous sound that awakened her was not from her dream but from reality.

Duma got out of bed. The world around her was pitch black, and only her spiritual power could sense what was happening outside.

She lit a lamp, but something strange happened.

Although the lamp was burning, she could not see its light.

“How can this be?”

Duma raised her hand, producing a ball of light.

The light of her transcendent power pierced the darkness, illuminating the candle flame.

This was strange.

Duma immediately employed her innate transcendent intuition and sensed a power beyond the mortal realm that was blocking her perception of danger as well as her vision and light.

In that darkness, she saw endless terror.

“Something is wrong.”

These words immediately surfaced in Duma’s mind, and she rushed outside.

She saw waves of filthy black mud surging in from outside, engulfing the boxes she had brought back from the Avel City-State.

That black, filthy mud was exactly like what she had seen in her dream, so dangerous and evil.

“My boxes!”

Duma immediately rushed forward, grabbed the boxes that had not yet been contaminated by the black mud, and fled outside.

She flapped her wings and soared into the sky, only to discover that the entire Radiant City had been swallowed by black sludge.

Duma’s pupils dilated instantly. Her grip on the boxes tightened immediately, even unconsciously crushing a piece of the wooden board.

“Black mud.”

“What is this thing? How did it appear in the Radiant City?”

Duma’s spiritual power sensed that the entire Radiant City had fallen into darkness. In that darkness, the only lights were the transcendent power of individual Sky Messengers and their gleaming wings.

But before those Sky Messengers could fly, she saw the gathered black sludge rise like a tidal wave, as if it possessed consciousness, striking and devouring them like Wing Demons hunting weak prey.

“No!”

“Help me!”

“Save me!”

“Lady Duma!”

Someone spotted Duma above and cried out in despair.

But before Duma could fly down to save them, they were entangled by the black sludge and dragged into darkness.

Duma saw flocks of Eagle Demons swooping in from afar, wielding dark, evil power as they attacked her.

Duma spread her three pairs of wings and cast a divine incantation.

“Divine Incantation: Light!”

Light enveloped the Eagle Demon at the front of the charge, causing it to cry out in pain.

Duma dodged its attack and fled upward.

When it drew close again, she struck back.

“Divine Incantation: Sword of Light!”

Light gathered into a sword and swung down under Duma’s control.

With one strike, Duma split the Eagle Demon, immediately seeing a black, mottled stone fall from its body.

After losing the stone, the Eagle Demon’s hideous form transformed into that of a Winged Person rather than a Sky Messenger.

It had a human-like upper body, but its lower half was that of a bird with talons.

However, the moment the Winged Person’s corpse appeared, it exploded into a pool of filthy black mud.

Duma reacted quickly, instantly summoning a wall of light to block it.

But her gaze remained fixed on that stone, causing her to unconsciously loosen her grip on the box she held.

“Divine… stone?”

Duma stood frozen in place, speaking in disbelief.

“Splash.”

Only when the box in her hand fell into the black sludge did Duma snap back to her senses.

Duma understood what this meant.

It meant that all these transcendent Eagle Demons were transformed Sky Messengers.

Sky Messengers received power from the Gate of Spirituality that transformed Winged People into Sky Messengers on a transcendent level, giving them sacred and beautiful forms.

But when the divine stone was removed, they reverted to their original form.

After all, the Gate of Spirituality could not modify their bloodline at the genetic level. It could only use transcendent power to influence and modify mortal bodies. When they lost that transcendent power, they returned to their true appearance.

At that moment, more Eagle Demons swooped in to attack Duma.

Meanwhile, other escaped Sky Messengers gathered around Duma to help her.

But during the battle, they witnessed an even more terrifying sight.

When these Eagle Demons were killed, their bodies exploded into black mud.

If contaminated by the black mud, the Sky Messengers would also transform into these horrifying Eagle Demons.

Seeing their companions transform into Eagle Demons before their eyes, the Sky Messengers could not help but realize that these Eagle Demons were once their own.

“No.”

“I killed Cohen.”

“That was Cohen.”

One of the Sky Messengers recognized that the Eagle Demon they had just killed was their friend, and they broke down immediately, sobbing uncontrollably in midair.

The other Sky Messengers also neared mental collapse one by one, losing the courage to fight.

No one knew what had happened or understood why the Radiant City had become like this overnight.

After slaying several Eagle Demons, Duma’s gaze turned toward her mother’s chamber.

So much time had passed, yet she had not seen her mother emerge.

“Mother!”

Duma grew anxious and rushed inside.

As Duma descended from the sky, black mud rose in wave after wave, and from within emerged a corrupted Wing Demon.

“Hiss!”

The Wing Demon spread its wings and lunged to bite Duma, no longer recognizing its former master.

Duma had no patience to tangle with the Wing Demon. She dodged aside and charged directly into the chamber.

“Divine Incantation: Shield of Light!”

She raised her light shield, continuously dodging and blocking the black waves.

But even a Third-Rank Ability User’s divine technique light shield proved fragile against this black sludge. Duma could be contaminated by the black mud at any moment.

She blasted through wall after wall with one charge until she appeared in Melde’s chamber.

When she saw her mother, she found that Melde had already merged with the black mud.

The lower half of the Eight-Winged Sky Messenger had been completely devoured by black mud.

The black mud had formed a tall throne upon which she sat.

Dense black strands tangled together, connecting the throne and Melde.

The power of the Eight-Winged Sky Messenger merged with the fallen abyss, its terrifying force inspiring horror.

Duma’s intuition instantly warned her of a crisis upon seeing divinity.

Duma looked up at her mother, Queen Melde of the Winged People, and asked in disbelief.

“Mother?”

Half of her wings had turned black, and Duma sensed that the black, filthy, evil mass she held was the source of the contaminating black mud.

Her mental state was extremely unstable, and her face no longer bore the cold expression Duma was familiar with.

Queen Melde held the nauseating mass of flesh, raising her head with a delighted expression.

“Duma?” she said softly.

“You have come.”

She looked at the terrible, evil mass in her arms with extremely tender eyes—a thing that had no intelligence, only chaos and madness.

“Look, I made the divine descend.”

“Come! Come merge with us, become part of the divine!”

Duma’s face turned pale with terror at Melde’s horrifying words, and she kept shaking her head.

“Mother! What have you done?”

“You did all this? This is how you said you would make the divine descend?”

Queen Melde sat upon her high throne, which continuously leaked black mud, and looked at Duma with evil, corrupted eyes.

“Duma.”

“Are you questioning me, questioning the divine?”

This was not the first time Melde had used such words to pressure Duma. Each time, Duma submitted.

This time, Duma did not yield at all. She cried out in an extremely agitated shout.

“Mother, have you gone mad?”

That piercing voice echoed throughout the entire palace, carrying Duma’s despair and helplessness.

Duma was a Sky Messenger, Lady Duma of the Winged People.

Yet now, she felt like a helpless little girl. She could not understand why her mother would do such things and could hardly believe that the woman before her was Melde.

Queen Melde heard Duma’s cry and suddenly froze.

At that moment, she unexpectedly regained a trace of sanity as the evil and corruption slowly receded from her face.

Her expression turned cold as she spoke to Duma.

“I seem to have made a mistake.”

“What descended was not the true divine. I corrupted divine power.”

“The divine does not need such sacrifice. From the beginning… from two hundred years ago… we were wrong.”

The Winged Queen suddenly stood up, but her body was tightly entangled by black mud. She reached out as if wanting to touch Duma’s face.

“Duma, find the true way to revive the divine spirit!”

“You will do it, Duma, you can certainly do it.”

Even at this moment, she still thought only of the divine.

Duma shook her head: “Have you never thought about how you are the Queen of the Winged People?”

“Your actions have completely ruined the Radiant City, plunging everyone into disaster.”

“Countless will die, countless will fall into despair and suffering because of your madness.”

Queen Melde looked at Duma and said to her daughter,

“I am God’s Apostle first, then Queen of the Winged People.”

Duma kept backing away: “I cannot do it. I do not have that power.”

The Winged Queen looked at Duma and said: “You will do it.”

“Because…”

The Winged Queen’s voice became extremely agitated as she spoke in a trembling tone.

“You are God’s daughter.”

Queen Melde’s face gradually descended into madness as that evil, corrupted will once again consumed her.

“You are the child the divine bestowed upon me!”

“Duma, you are the divine’s child. Come merge with the divine quickly!”

Duma watched helplessly as her mother’s will was devoured and replaced by another, twisted evil consciousness.

And that evil existence still wanted to keep her and devour her as well.

“No!”

Before Queen Melde completely fell, Duma fled into the sky, leading all remaining Sky Messengers away from the Radiant City.

Flying higher, they saw that the black mud had already devoured all of Fenbuk Mountain, completely submerging the Trial City at its foot.

Countless Winged People died in their sleep, and many transformed into the lowest-ranked Eagle Demons.