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“Only death awaits…”

Cornelia’s eyes widened. Divine power surged in her body like crazy. Her body tensed up like a lion, ready for battle. It was at this moment, a fair and delicate hand grew larger in her line of sight.

Cornelia could not sense any strength or power in the hand. It felt no different than a friendly high five from a mortal. She had no reason to be alarmed, but the first thing her instinct prompted her was not to resist but…

To run.

The wings on her back flapped strongly. In just an instant, Cornelia’s surroundings changed completely. A few of the strange creatures that were hunting around here did not even think twice before pouncing on the existence that had suddenly appeared in their battlefield.

Cornelia did not even turn her head around. In just an instant, an invisible force crushed those creatures to pulp that floated through the endless void, waiting to become other creatures’ meal.

Cornelia stared straight ahead with a dumbfounded look on her face. For some unknown reason, she felt paralyzed.

Although half of the continent was destroyed, it was still a thousand miles in diameters. Even so, it appeared as tiny as a mustard seed in Cornelia’s deity-level vision.

She had flown at least tens of thousands of miles away from it. This was a distance that mortals below the deity realm would not be able to reach in just the span of a few days and nights.

Cold sweat formed on Cornelia’s forehead and drenched her snow-white bangs, because that delicate hand gently touched her face… The palm was cold like ice, freezing Cornelia to her very core.

Cornelia looked at the smirking Dragon Eater through the gaps between her slender fingers.

How could this be?

Cornelia clearly perceived that although the girl in front of her looked like a whole different person, her strength, physique and realm remained the same.

So why… Why was she suddenly so terrifyingly strong…? This girl even overpowered Cornelia in terms of speed. That made no sense at all!

There should be a limit to how powerful a person could get. No matter how you look at it, a three-year-old girl suddenly turning into another person who could knock out a boxing champion with a punch just was not possible in reality.

“Ah, I forgot to tell you. If memory serves, the number of deities that could run away from me as soon as they saw me is only… a handful,” the Dragon Eater said with a smile.

She… or rather, Lilith’s adorable face looked harmless. However in Cornelia’s eyes, she looked no different than the most ferocious ancient beast. To Cornelia, the dragon phantom from before was just a little playful kitten that would only leave a scratch on her hand at most if it got mad.

“Alright, I think we can have that heart-to-heart talk now. I’m all ears~” The Dragon Eater gently caressed Cornelia’s cheek, like the divine barrier that the latter had put up did not exist. She had a sincere look on her face, like a good friend who was ready to listen to her best friend’s rants. Yet her next sentence made Cornelia’s scalp crawl.

“Let me remind you though, your heartfelt words will determine how I will kill you. I’d say I’m more inclined to those long and fun methods. After all, it’s been a long time since I came out. I’m itching to start.”

Cornelia nearly collapsed on the spot. She was finally experiencing the terror of those “vermins” that she often talked about⁠—getting their wings ripped off, or their limbs pulled out one by one.

Lilith’s words had come true. Cornelia never imagined there would come a time when she would be treated like a vermin by someone more powerful. She had even forgotten how to resist.

There was a hint of sadistic glee in the Dragon Eater’s eyes.

Lowly creatures are really weak-minded. You might as well become my toy.

The Dragon Eater hovered her hand over Cornelia’s forehead. A tiny black flame, swaying like a dancing black fairy, appeared on her palm.

When the flame was about to come in contact with Cornelia’s skin, an ethereal but familiar voice sounded in Cornelia’s ears.

“Cornelia, you mustn’t give up…”

Mommy?

In her trance, Cornelia thought she saw a gentle-looking woman. The woman looked at her with anxiousness and other emotions flashing over her face. Cornelia bit down on the tip of her tongue hard, forcing herself to wake up and concentrate through the pain.

If she was dead, who was going to remember that her father and mother once lived?

Cornelia did not participate in the great war. By the time she became a deity, the powerful people in this great world had already worked together and killed those horrible existences known as the Dragon Eaters.

The war was already over.

As deities, Cornelia’s parents never returned from that battle. They became heroes who saved the great world. Their names were engraved on the “Heavenly Arrow,” where countless creatures in the great world offered their prayers and faith.

However, Cornelia’s world collapsed with the death of her parents.

For the sake of resurrecting her parents, Cornelia isolated herself and immersed herself in training. She used her status as the “descendant of the heroes” to obtain a large number of resources and trained desperately, just so that she could find a possibility of reviving her parents after becoming a deity.

Cornelia did not care if she found their reincarnation. Even if they had lost all their memories, she could always rebuild their bonds again.

Unfortunately, reality was cruel.

Perhaps Cornelia received some of the blessing from the prayers too, she improved at an amazing pace and ended up becoming a legend in the world she was living in at the time. When she finally became a deity, she discovered that…

There was no such thing as reincarnation for deities, because the soul of a deity had transformed into another higher existence known as the Divine Flint. It was the core of divinity, the foundation of a deity.

Because of the Divine Flint, deities were free from the basic law of reincarnation in this world and hence attaining immortality.

This also meant two things. First, it would be difficult for a Divine Flint to be completely destroyed. Second, completely destroying a Divine Flint meant the demise of a deity.

They would cease to exist and there would be no possibility of resurrecting them.

This was when all hope was lost to Cornelia. In her desperation, she turned to the endless dream world, seeking to relive the happy days of living with her parents…

Cornelia closed her eyes at some point. For the first time, genuine tears leaked from the corners of her eyes. Somewhere in her heart, an emotion known as hatred began to change…

Are you going to deprive me of this little wish of mine, Dragon Eater?!!!!

The Dragon Eater withdrew her hand and observed the change in Cornelia with some surprise.

Faint white light emerged from Cornelia’s body constantly. It wrapped around her, subtly changing something in her. Cornelia’s aura also gradually changed. Unlike the shocking aura from before, it became something more profound and unpredictable.

The Dragon Eater raised her eyebrows, tilted her head and pondered for a moment. Was this… an advancement?

Of course the Dragon Eater knew what was going on, after detecting that unusual presence and voice just now. It was just there were still some things she could not wrap her head around.

Then, realization suddenly dawned on her and she clapped her hands. “I see, so that’s what happened! Is this what you lowly creatures call the ties of kinship? After being dead for so long, there is still a remnant of obsession. With endless merit and faith on them, she could have one-in-a-million hope to be reborn in the form of a deity in the distant future. But in order to save her daughter, she gave up that hope. How touching.”

While saying that, the Dragon Eater made no attempt to interrupt Cornelia’s advancement. She merely sat down cross-legged in an uncouth manner on the ground that appeared under her butt, made of black crystal.

She propped her chin on one hand as she watched Cornelia to complete her advancement with great interest. After all, she had been stuck inside for ages. It would be nice for the fun to last as long as possible.

Then again… she was getting bored of waiting. Time was of the essence, she did not want to waste it on boring stuff.

The Dragon Eater closed her eyes and began reviewing Lilith’s memory that she did not know yet to relieve boredom.