Inside Thunder City

A large contingent of city guards gathered around the Temple of Iva and the prayer halls scattered throughout the city and beyond its walls. Among them were members of the royal extraordinary legion, all of them ability users under the king’s direct command.

The divine servants and apprentices from the Temple of Iva and the various prayer halls stepped outside, observing the unfolding scene.

“What is happening?”

“What… what is going on?”

“Why are they surrounding us?”

Kingdom officials held up scrolls bearing His Majesty the King’s decree and made an announcement to all the divine servants of Iva.

“By order of His Majesty the King!”

“All divine servants of foreign gods must leave Thunderlake Kingdom. All temples of foreign gods outside the Temple of Life must be dismantled or converted into temples of the Sky Beast God. All servants and believers of foreign gods are forbidden from spreading any faith or doctrine in Thunderlake Kingdom other than that of the Sky Beast God.”

The divine servants of Iva immediately erupted into an uproar, blocking the officials’ path forward.

“How could His Majesty issue such an order?”

“This is the Hall of Iva.”

Some divine servants recalled Apostle Oran’s earlier warning. At this moment, they finally grasped the meaning behind his words.

He had already anticipated this outcome.

The officials stared at them with contempt, disdain clear in their expressions.

“You dare to ask why?”

“You, the servants and believers of foreign gods, have conspired against this nation devoted to the Sky Beast God. You have destroyed the gift we created for the Sky Beast God and Her Holiness the witch.”

“You harbored criminals wanted by the kingdom and sheltered those who dared to oppose the Sky Beast God.”

“His Majesty the King has shown you the utmost mercy by not ordering your arrest.”

“And yet, you still dare to question me.”

Everyone was speechless. Many of them still knew nothing of this matter.

“What?”

“Who is he talking about?”

“The Sky Witch’s carriage was destroyed. What does the disaster at the shipbuilding workshop have to do with us?”

Some refused to believe the official’s words, arguing vehemently.

“You are spouting nonsense!”

“Servants and believers of Iva could never do such a thing.”

“What evidence do you have?”

The officials produced Gamel’s wanted notice.

“It was this person, a servant of your God of Desire and Alchemy.”

“Someone witnessed him creating that disaster with an unspeakably evil power.”

“I know what you are trying to do.”

“But let me tell you, you will not succeed.”

“Thunderlake Kingdom will forever be a land of faith devoted to the Sky Beast God.”

“The conspirators among you will all face the Sky Beast God’s punishment, and you servants and believers of foreign gods will be expelled from the Sky Beast God’s land of faith.”

Influenced by the increasingly assertive Thunder Temple, His Majesty the King of Thunderlake Kingdom issued a decree to expel the divine servants of all foreign gods.

The establishment of Thunderlake Kingdom was deeply tied to the Land of Sunrise. It was only with the support of the White Tower Alchemy Alliance that the kingdom was able to free itself from the control of the Royal Court of Ten Thousand Serpents.

As a result, the Land of Sunrise held significant influence over every aspect of Thunderlake Kingdom.

Many weapons and equipment used by Thunderlake Kingdom’s extraordinary legion came from the Land of Sunrise, and the workshops scattered throughout the kingdom were under the control of its workshop masters.

The faith of Iva had gained significant traction in Thunderlake Kingdom over the past few years, and this expansion of influence created tension among the people.

Many in Thunderlake Kingdom felt deep resentment toward the White Tower Alchemy Alliance. They believed these outsiders had infiltrated their nation and taken wealth that rightfully belonged to them.

The people also felt that the faith of Iva had encroached upon the sacred domain of the Sky Beast God, further fueling their anger.

Commoners resented the greedy workshop masters. Merchants and nobles of Thunderlake Kingdom were jealous of and coveted the wealth of merchants from the Land of Sunrise. The king also felt threatened.

The Thunder Temple of the Sky Beast God was quite assertive, but His Majesty the King and the Thunder Temple were united. The temple represented divine authority, while he controlled royal authority.

According to the doctrine of the Thunder Temple, he remained the sole controller of royal authority.

No matter how assertive the Thunder Temple became, they would undoubtedly uphold His Majesty the King’s rule.

However, the primary land of faith for Iva was the White Tower Alchemy Alliance. Even if His Majesty the King of Thunderlake Kingdom came to worship Iva, he would only become a vassal of the White Tower Alchemy Alliance.

In the end, he decided to fully align himself with the Thunder Temple and resolved to expel the divine servants of Iva.

This was not merely a struggle over faith but also a struggle over interests.

Of course, there was also the assurance provided by the Chief divine servant of the Thunder Temple.

The Chief divine servant had spoken to His Majesty the King with unwavering confidence, saying, “The Sky Beast God will support us.”

With the Sky Beast God’s power, the White Tower Alchemy Alliance and the Temple of Iva no longer seemed so fearsome.

Faced with His Majesty the King’s decree and the looming threats from the extraordinary legion, the divine servants of the Temple of Iva stood their ground, refusing to abandon their prayer halls and temples.

This time, Thunderlake Kingdom showed an unusual level of determination. The mobilized extraordinary legion refrained from indiscriminate massacres, but many divine servants and apprentices were arrested during the ensuing conflicts and taken to Thunder City’s dungeons.

In addition, a growing unrest began to spread among the city’s commoners, fueled by the influence of the Thunder Temple.

Many believers in the Sky Beast God gathered around the temples and prayer halls, throwing stones at those inside. Some even forced their way into the temples and prayer halls to carry out attacks.

“Servants of foreign gods, get out!”

“Depart from the land of Thunder Marsh and our kingdom!”

“This is a nation devoted to the faith of the Sky Beast God. Do not think you can claim the divine’s sacred domain as your own.”

Under such circumstances, even those who originally worshiped Iva were forced to abandon their faith.

Faced with this situation, some of the divine servants of the Temple of Iva decided to abandon their efforts and leave Thunderlake Kingdom behind.

Following Apostle Oran’s guidance, they traveled toward the Land of Sunrise.

Of course, some were unwilling to leave. They could not bear to abandon everything they had built here or the land of faith they had worked so hard to establish.

They chose instead to stand their ground and resist Thunderlake Kingdom and the Thunder Temple.

Meanwhile, in one of Thunder City’s prayer halls, an elderly divine servant stood with two divine servant apprentices, determined to guard the sacred space.

The hall, once filled with the prayers of devoted believers, now stood eerily quiet. No worshipers came anymore, only the occasional sound of stones striking the walls from outside, accompanied by angry curses.

Gamel had heard that the elderly divine servant had chosen to stay behind.

Determined to see him, he quietly climbed over the back wall. His movements were swift and precise, as if he had done this many times before.

Once inside, he found the elderly divine servant who had always shown him kindness. Without wasting a moment, he spoke with urgency.

“Everyone else has left. Why are you still here?”

“You must leave quickly! Go to the Land of Sunrise. Don’t wade into these troubled waters.”

The elderly divine servant instead hurriedly pulled Gamel toward the back, his voice anxious.

“Gamel, how do you dare return?”

“Everyone in Thunder City is searching for you. Your portrait is posted everywhere.”

Once at the back, the elderly divine servant looked left and right.

“Did you really do those things?”

“Was it you who borrowed the divine’s power and destroyed the witch’s carriage?”

Gamel replied, “That wasn’t my doing. I am merely a First-Rank Servant Alchemist. How could I possibly accomplish such a thing?”

“They brought this on themselves, inviting the divine’s warning.”

“It was not Iva, but the Sky Beast God warning them.”

The elderly divine servant did not know who was right and who was wrong.

At this moment, Gamel spoke again about leaving, but the elderly divine servant had lived here for most of his life. Now, old as he was, he was unwilling to leave this place.

“I will not leave.”

“I have spent a lifetime spreading the faith here. This place is my home.”

“I cannot believe they would dare to harm the divine’s hall or desecrate Iva’s sacred domain.”

The elderly divine servant devoutly made a gesture and closed his eyes.

“The divine will protect me.”

Gamel’s voice grew firm as he addressed the elderly divine servant.

“What if the divine’s protection is me being guided here to tell you to leave?”

“Even Apostle Oran warned everyone to leave without delay.”

“You are unable to see the divine’s guidance. You are just clinging to what you wish to believe.”

“Abandon this place. Leave immediately.”

The elderly divine servant remained stubborn, resisting Gamel’s words.

“That cannot be.”

“How could the divine abandon His temple, abandon His believers?”

“As long as I remain here, the divine will protect me.”

Gamel felt helpless and could only quietly leave the prayer hall.

That same day, news spread among the believers of the Sky Beast God that Gamel had been seen leaving this very prayer hall.

The fanatical believers learned that it was servants from this very prayer hall who had used evil rituals to destroy Her Holiness the witch’s carriage, conducting a “conspiracy” to overthrow the faith of the Sky Beast God.

Filled with fury, they gathered and rushed into the prayer hall.

“It was they who did this!” Their eyes were bloodshot, glaring at the people inside the prayer hall as if they were mortal enemies.

“Drive out these heretics and foreign believers!” the first person to charge in shouted with fervor.

The elderly divine servant was a kind old man. He had lived on this street for decades and even recognized a few faces among the frenzied believers of the Sky Beast God.

“Everyone, please calm down.”

“Iva is compassionate. How could the divine bring disaster down upon the mortal world?”

“The divine will only protect everyone.”

“You must all believe in the divine…”

But no one listened. The frenzied believers of the Sky Beast God rushed in, immediately targeting everything related to the God of Desire and Alchemy within the prayer hall.

To them, the presence of these objects within Thunderlake Kingdom, a nation devoted to the faith of the Sky Beast God, was nothing less than an act of blasphemy against their deity.

“Break this statue of the foreign god!”

“Followers of the Sky Beast God, now is the time to stand for the divine’s faith!”

“Destroy everything that belongs to the foreign gods! Leave nothing untouched!”

“Remove the faith of foreign gods! The people of Thunder Marsh must worship only the Sky Beast God!”

The two divine servant apprentices and the elderly divine servant stood firm, trying to block the crowd’s advance.

As the shoving intensified, the elderly divine servant was pushed into the center of the chaos. The crowd grew more agitated, their emotions boiling over and clouding their judgment.

Surrounded on all sides, the elderly divine servant and the apprentices were trapped in the middle of the frenzied mob.

The elderly divine servant hesitated, unsure whether to rely on his power as an ability user or to seek another way to calm the situation.

On one hand, he felt that using such power against ordinary people contradicted the faith in his heart. On the other, he worried about escalating the conflict even further.

While hesitating, he suddenly felt a chill from behind.

The elderly divine servant lowered his head and saw a dagger piercing through his chest.

“You heretic, die!”

The elderly divine servant turned his head.

It was the face of a young man, who spoke with fervent excitement.

“Killing a heretic like you will bring the divine’s reward to us!”

“Look at this!”

“This is the devotion I give to the divine!”

The elderly divine servant recognized him. He was a young man from this street whom he had watched grow up.

They had no grievances. The elderly divine servant had even held him as a child and heard his innocent laughter.

But at this moment, the young man saw him as their greatest enemy and harbored the deepest hatred toward him.

The elderly divine servant’s face was filled with astonishment. He could not comprehend the source of the young man’s hatred or what wrong he had committed.

He was an ability user, capable of summoning his Lamp of Covenant and unleashing destruction in this place.

But in the end, he chose to give up.

The elderly divine servant slumped to the floor. Blood flowed out around him.

The two apprentices were just young individuals with the potential to become ability users. They had not yet finished their foundational training or condensed their Lamps of Covenant. At this moment, they were indistinguishable from ordinary people.

They cried out sorrowfully in the chaotic crowd, calling the elderly divine servant’s name.

But they were shoved further and further away by the crowd, eventually falling into the chaos of the mob’s assault.

The elderly divine servant felt his strength slipping away, bit by bit.

He watched as the prayer hall descended into complete disarray. The frenzied crowd toppled the altar, and Iva’s statue wobbled before crashing to the ground.

Those who destroyed the statue felt no fear. Instead, they were filled with a sense of triumph.

They believed they were purging the faith of a foreign god to honor their own divine.

In their eyes, they were justified.

They had made contributions to the divine. They had defended the divine’s land of faith. The divine would surely reward them, allowing them to enter the Kingdom of God after death and enjoy everything they could not enjoy in life.

At least, that was what they believed.

The elderly divine servant watched this scene of madness and suddenly recalled the letter he had received from the Rainbow Tree, delivered directly into his dreams.

That warning came from the executor of the divine’s will in the mortal world, from the being known as an apostle.

One line in the letter read:

“Faith belongs to the divine. Those who presume the divine will, those who represent divine intent with mortal hearts, will ultimately go against the divine.“

He looked at those people, at those frenzied believers of the Sky Beast God, and suddenly understood the meaning of these words.

The ones who went against the divine were not just these people, but himself as well.

The believers of the Sky Beast God distorted divine oracles to suit their own desires. They cloaked their inner ambitions and original sins in the name of the divine.

The elderly divine servant, on the other hand, had clung to the belief that this prayer hall was a sacred domain. He was convinced that the divine would protect and guide him.

Perhaps, deep down, he simply could not bring himself to leave the prayer hall he had built with his own hands. He could not abandon the place where he had spent decades spreading the faith.

A trace of wishful thinking still lingered in his heart. As a result, he either overlooked or turned away from the true guidance.

The elderly divine servant stared with cloudy eyes, his hand covering his wound as he watched the chaotic conflict of faiths within the hall. Amid the cacophony, he spoke his final words.

“Calling ourselves believers, we are all merely fools who do not understand the divine’s true intent.”

The elderly divine servant, even in his final moment, could not close his eyes.

Gamel returned after dark, long after everything had ended.

The prayer hall had been emptied. What remained had all been destroyed.

Two divine servant apprentices guarded the elderly divine servant’s corpse, looking at the hastily returning Gamel with anger in their eyes.

“Gamel, how do you dare return!”

The elderly divine servant had said this same sentence before.

When the elderly divine servant said it, his words carried concern for Gamel. When the two divine servant apprentices said it, however, their tone was filled with blame.

They believed he was the cause of everything that had happened.

They believed he had killed the elderly divine servant, and that he was the reason His Majesty the King issued the order to expel them.

“This is all because of you!”

“What did you do?”

“Do you have any idea how many people have died because of you?”

“Why don’t you just die!”

Gamel listened to what they said, looking at the elderly divine servant’s corpse and the toppled altar.

The stone statue of the God of Desire and Alchemy had fallen to the ground, smashed to pieces.

Gamel slumped down, looking at the elderly divine servant’s corpse.

He looked at the old man who had died with his eyes still open, not knowing what to say.

In the end, he could only lower his voice and speak softly.

“I did nothing.”

“I truly did nothing. I was only saving people.”

“What did I do wrong?”

“Is saving people wrong?”

Gamel was a person of Thunder Marsh and also a believer in Iva.

He believed that miraculous alchemy and knowledge had the potential to shape a brighter future for this country. The workshops that tirelessly produced various goods and the alchemists who crafted Alchemical Artifacts could bring prosperity to everyone in the nation.

By becoming prosperous and mastering knowledge, they could cast off ignorance and move toward civilization.

This vision could ultimately transform the land of Thunder Marsh into a place like the White Tower Alchemy Alliance, Suinhor, or the Royal Court of Ten Thousand Serpents.

He had once wanted to travel to the White Tower Alchemy Alliance to study, then bring back all the knowledge he learned.

Now, he felt somewhat lost.

Could he truly change anything?

Could he truly accomplish anything?

Gamel thought of that powerful figure, the being whose words and manner carried a wisdom akin to the divine.

At that time, Gamel had believed that mortals who struggled to fill their bellies each day had no need to understand grand principles. However, the other party later told him that civilization was never stagnant. A nation must always move forward. It must always journey from ignorance toward enlightenment.

“I saw one moment, but he saw the future.”

This time, he had once again witnessed the good and evil before him, yet remained unaware that his momentary actions would lead to such far-reaching consequences. The other party, however, had foreseen it all.

The deaths of the elderly divine servant and the others in the conflicts were like a lit fuse.

The recent events enraged the divine servants and alchemists who had been preparing to evacuate. One by one, they turned back, gathering to resist His Majesty the King’s decree.

The alchemists, merchants, and believers of Iva across Thunderlake Kingdom found themselves united under a single cause.

Throughout the kingdom, chaos unfolded as killings and acts of resistance became a daily occurrence.

Workshops across the land shut down in large numbers. Ability users clashed under the cover of night, while soldiers stormed homes to arrest those deemed criminals.

Thunder City, in particular, became the epicenter of unrest.

The death toll rose steadily, and the number of arrests swelled as more people were thrown into prison.

The kingdom teetered on the brink of a full-scale war of faiths.

Even the White Tower Alchemy Alliance appeared to be growing uneasy. Reports suggested they had started deploying the Alchemy Corps to the borders of Thunderlake Kingdom.

The Thunder Temple and the King of Thunder Marsh were determined to protect their country and faith, striving to safeguard the Sky Beast God’s sacred domain and the nation devoted to its worship.

The servants and believers of Iva sought to defend their temples and prayer halls. Meanwhile, the White Tower Alchemy Alliance refused to sit idly by as the interests of their merchants and workshop masters were threatened.

Outside Thunder City

In the small house on the hillside, Oran sat at a wooden table, carefully sketching a blueprint. The intricate design depicted a complex mechanical body, with a few words written neatly to the side.

“Conception of Alchemical Life.”

Oran had already obtained The Path of Wisdom from the God of Desire and Alchemy. One more step and he would become a Reincarnator.

Reincarnators needed bodies, and the simplest way was to find the body of an intelligent species to undergo reincarnation and rebirth repeatedly.

This method had been proven effective.

The demigods of the previous era had become myths using this approach.

However, this era was different. Oran did not have the luxury of time, and neither did the God of Desire and Alchemy.

Oran concentrated on the vessel of reincarnation. He believed that advancing the design of the reincarnation body could significantly shorten the time needed to reach mythic status through the process of reincarnation.

Additionally, Oran often felt that at the pinnacle of the alchemist’s path, the life form had already begun to transcend the boundaries of ordinary existence.

At that stage, the alchemist was no longer a snake person but had become an entirely different kind of life form.

It was not even an ordinary life form, but a life form belonging to alchemical power.

Even Oran’s current apostle body had already begun transforming in that direction.

Alchemical Life.

This was the idea Oran had envisioned, and it was the solution he devised to overcome the challenge.

Creak!

At that moment, Gamel hurried back from outside, pushing open the door of the wooden house.

Gamel was panting as he looked at Oran’s back.

He had many things to say and many questions to ask. But now, he fell silent.

He sat down with his head lowered, remaining quiet.

The quiet room was filled only with the soft scratching of Oran’s fountain pen against the paper.

As he continued writing, Oran broke the silence.

“You saved those people, yet invited an even greater problem.”

“You thought you did the right thing, yet it led to the worst result.”

“You do not understand why this happened.”

“Is that not so?”

Oran stopped his pen and turned his head to look at Gamel.

At this moment, his thoughts were no longer those of an ordinary person.

Gamel did not answer, but Oran continued as if speaking to himself.

At this moment, he began contemplating questions that did not belong to mortals but to the perspective of the divine.

“This is truly a difficult question, discerning right from wrong.”

“What matters more, the right and wrong we see before us, or the destination we ultimately reach?”

“Is a momentary act of kindness more moving, or is eternal reason more perfect?”

In the end, Oran spoke softly.

“In the eyes of the divine, perhaps there is no good or evil.”

“At least, the good and evil that mortals perceive have long lost their meaning for the divine.”

“They stand beyond the flow of time, focusing on entire civilizations and the world. They will not disrupt the order of this world over small acts of good or evil. What they wish to see is the ultimate destiny of civilization and the future of the world.”

Gamel focused only on the good and evil of an individual. He might have saved one person, perhaps a few, or maybe those people would not have perished in the storm at all.

However, Oran at this moment looked toward the endpoint of civilization and the future of the world. His thoughts were centered on preserving the balance between the divine and mortals.

He examined right and wrong from the perspective of civilization, the world, and divine spirits, hoping to maintain order and proceed toward the future, rather than focusing on one person’s life or death.

Was Gamel more kind?

Or was Oran more compassionate?

But this foresight that transcended mortal vision, this elevated compassion that gazed upon the mortal world from above, seemed so cruel to mortal eyes.

Gamel looked at Oran and asked, “Sir, those people toppled Iva’s statue and destroyed His temple. Shouldn’t He be angry?”

Oran turned to Gamel and replied, “Why should the divine be angry over the folly of mortals?”

He continued, “If an ant were to lift a stone and hurl it at you, only to crush itself in the process, would you feel anger?”

“The divine may smile and shake their head, perhaps even feel pity for the ignorance of mortals.”

“But the one thing they will not do is succumb to anger.”

Oran put away the scroll of “Conception of Alchemical Life” and asked Gamel.

“Gamel, do you know who I am?”

Gamel seemed to have already realized who he was. “You are Apostle Oran,” he said.

“Iva’s executor in the mortal world, the founder of the White Tower Alchemy Alliance, and the great Puppet Alchemist.”

Oran had countless stories, and Gamel had listened to every one of them.

His story of guarding the White Tower. His story with the wood nymphs. His story of establishing the White Tower Alchemy Alliance. His story of becoming an apostle.

Every story was filled with a legendary quality.

“Do you want me to take action?” Oran asked.

“To resolve this crisis for you?”

He extended his hand, looking at his own palm.

“I possess the power of an apostle, the strongest power a mortal can hold.”

“In the eyes of ordinary people, I must seem omnipotent. Mortals always make limitless wishes to the divine, believing that omnipotent beings need only wave a hand to fulfill those wishes.”

Gamel shook his head. “It is precisely because you are a divine apostle, because you are Master Oran the Puppet Alchemist, that you cannot take action.”

Gamel had been sitting for a long time. His emotions had shifted from agitation to complete calm.

“I have already thought about how to resolve this.”

Oran asked, “Revenge? Do you want to kill the king, or perhaps make another trip to the temple?”

Gamel, having experienced these events, seemed to have matured. “I do not have that ability. Besides, revenge cannot solve the problem.”

He continued, “They say I caused all of this. No matter what the truth is, an even greater conflict is about to come. I can only try.”

Oran looked into Gamel’s eyes. “Gamel, you are no longer focused on what is immediately before you. You have begun to see the essence of things, the more important results.”

Gamel stood up, taking a deep breath before releasing it. He rubbed his face to ease the tension in his expression.

“Master Oran, thank you for teaching me. I have learned many things from you.”

As Gamel turned to leave and reached the door, Oran suddenly spoke to him.

“What about your Lamp of Covenant?”

Gamel turned back and summoned his Lamp of Covenant.

It was a lamp forged from silver. The lamp body was a pure, pristine silver-white, and its flame was also pure white.

Oran walked over and lifted Gamel’s Lamp of Covenant in his hand to examine it.

“A very beautiful silver lamp.”