Chapter 653: Asylum

Li Mochen's emotions were complex—on one hand, he felt gratified, delighted, and excited; on the other, he also felt ashamed.

Not long ago, he had harbored thoughts and plans to scheme against this goddess of magic.

After a moment's contemplation, Li Mochen replied seriously, "I can take over, accepting your magic network and responsibilities. But I will only use the power of the magic network to maintain order and safety in this world. I will not do more for you, and I cannot participate in that battle."

He could not violate his contracts with Gaia and Isis. At this moment, if he deviated from a neutral stance, he would surely be rebounded upon by the World Core, which would cost him the chance to become a God Above Gods.

"That is enough."

Diana smiled gratefully, "Then I entrust it to Your Majesty."

Her figure rapidly dissipated before Li Mochen.

"As expected of the Goddess of Magic."

Twig Wood, the God of Storms and Floods, who was at the Magic Tower of Destiny's Domain doing his utmost to help Li Mochen stabilize the churches and world order, let out a sigh of admiration.

"Among all the giant gods born in the early days of the world, she should be the one closest to us humans. Even Prometheus cannot compare to her."

"Indeed!"

Li Mochen had already spread his divine power throughout the entire magic network, using its power to calm the seething and turbulent spiritual tides of the world.

In terms of the divine authority of 'magic' alone, he was certainly no match for Diana. But beyond that, Li Mochen also possessed many other authorities that could come into play, such as 'fate,' 'suppression,' 'yin and yang,' and 'dominion.'

His actual control over the magic network was in no way inferior to the Goddess of Magic's, and even surpassed it.

Moreover, he could also borrow the power of all the gods of the Fate Pantheon, which was far stronger than Diana, who could only fight alone.

This also directly affected the battles among the gods. Thor, Michael, and others simultaneously looked up, their eyes coldly fixed on the direction of the Fate Divine Kingdom.

Both could sense that in the area where they were fighting, the magical energy of light and thunder had become more sluggish and dimmer than before, weakening their divine authority to the extreme.

But then the two withdrew their gazes. Li Mochen was not targeting them alone. In the vicinity, not only light and thunder but also other natural forces like water, fire, wind, and wood were forcibly drained away by the magic network.

The Fate Dominator still maintained neutrality, making no hostile moves.

They could no longer afford to worry about these matters. The battle with Prometheus and Diana consumed all their energy.

And the magic network under Li Mochen's control still had limited restraint on them. Thor's hammer, Mjolnir, could still effortlessly raise tens of thousands of lightning serpents, extending and writhing within the fire clouds created by Prometheus, trying to capture the latter's figure.

In terms of absolute power alone, Thor's strength undoubtedly surpassed Prometheus. But the latter also possessed powerful prophecy and foresight, allowing him to precisely avoid most of Thor's attacks. And Prometheus's truth-level flames, along with his 'White Gold Firestone,' could also inflict lethal damage on Thor.

Although most of the time Prometheus could not apply his power directly to Thor's body—Thor, using the lightning network, could also accurately predict Prometheus's actions—Prometheus's threat to Thor was enough to demand his full attention. This was a true battle between deputy god-kings.

Michael, spreading his six wings, was submerged in Diana's sea of forbidden spells. The pseudo-truth-level divine authority of 'magic,' combined with the powerful forbidden spells researched by mages of various eras, made the Goddess of Magic's divine might and momentum even surpass Thor's.

But this did little harm to Michael. He moved as light, weaving through the destructive magical energy capable of annihilating small worlds, shuttling back and forth in nearly frozen time, waiting for an opportunity.

Any flaw Diana exposed would be seized upon by him, followed by fierce attacks aimed at killing her.

But the Goddess of Magic had an assistant: the Cyclops Brontes. His single eye not only controlled lightning but also possessed the concept of 'extraction.' Once gazed upon, a substance or concept within the body would be drawn out—usually strength, blood, thought, etc.—and in severe cases, life itself could be taken.

He had only a divine rank of 18, but for Michael, this Cyclops was even more troublesome than Diana.

By Gaia's side, the three Cyclopes and three Hecatoncheires could not be defeated or killed unless Gaia's divine power was exhausted.

In comparison, the battle between Gaia and the many god-kings was more conceptual, affecting a broader scope, even spreading across multiple dimensions and extending into the past and future.

When Isis gathered a massive amount of lightning, Gaia waved her hand and erased it; when the Night Goddess turned the world into night, Gaia could, with a thought, cause numerous stars to appear in the darkness.

These were the authorities of 'creation' and 'elimination'—over tens of thousands of years, Gaia had been advancing toward becoming a creator.

Only Odin and the Lord of Radiance could contend with her in this regard. Each of the former's attacks carried the power of 'eternity,' albeit only at the pseudo-truth level, but that was enough to prevent Gaia from interfering with his offensive.

As for the 'Lord of Radiance,' he too was extending his power toward 'creator.' He did not possess Gaia's creative power, but when he transformed into the sun hanging high in the sky, he never dimmed, continuously emitting light and heat, bombarding Gaia with spears imbued with the power of 'truth,' 'time,' 'space,' 'fate,' 'light,' and 'fire.'

Another sun in the sky was Ahura, the other Lord of Light. He was farther from the center of the battle, but his light was equally deadly.

This being revealed a power截然不同于 the Lord of Radiance: truth-level 'tolerance.' He tolerated all things, even able to contain the universe. No matter what attack, it was difficult to harm the sun he embodied.

The world-destroying might made the gods gathered at the Magic Tower of Destiny's Domain turn pale. If most of them had not already lost their human bodies, they would surely be drenched in cold sweat.

"Is this what a god-king is?"

"I feel like an ant before them."

"It wasn't so obvious when they were fighting in the roots before, but now I feel they could crush me with a finger."

"Don't panic, everyone! Don't forget that His Majesty is an existence that can match them."

"But I suspect they held back in the battle within the Fate Divine Kingdom."

"At this rate, I don't know how much longer I can hold on."

Li Mochen sat on his divine throne, chin resting on his hands, watching the war expressionlessly.

Although his divine power was being consumed intensely—so intensely that even the four 'Eternal Divine Furnaces' he had built on the 33rd to 36th floors of the Magic Tower of Destiny's Domain, fueled by matter-antimatter, could not keep up—Li Mochen's expression remained relaxed, revealing no sign of distress before his subordinate gods.

Compared to his subordinate gods here, Li Mochen gained more from observing the battle.

Within the 'Divine Pylon Purple-Gold Pagoda,' colorful spiritual lights were constantly generated and constantly collapsing and dissipating.

However, compared to the root conflict among Gaia and the others, the battle taking place in the real world actually hindered his observation of the essence of their power.

"It seems they really intend to let you remain neutral."

The wolf Fenrir, crouching at Li Mochen's feet, spoke with surprise, "How incredible! They let us sit on the sidelines and reap the benefits?"

"This is called armed neutrality! Without sufficient power—power to decide the outcome—who would let you remain neutral?"

Hairou crossed her arms and sneered, "They all know that forcing brother to enter the fray would lead to their defeat."

"But correspondingly, if they win this battle, it won't matter whether we are neutral or not. The might of a God Above Gods can easily dispose of us."

This was the sea goddess Thetis. At that moment, her expression shifted slightly as she looked toward the other side of the Bright World.

"It's the nature goddess Artemis!"

Li Mochen also noticed the change occurring in the Bright World. The powers of forest, earth, desert, ocean, wind, thunder—all that belonged to nature—were being mobilized by a certain goddess to counter the destruction caused by the war of the gods.

A flicker of strangeness and mockery passed through Li Mochen's eyes, "To be honest, this is not a good time."

That was undoubtedly a cunning goddess. After the Aesir and Olympian pantheons successively returned, she had fallen into slumber.

This allowed her to avoid most of the conflicts arising in this world and spared her from being torn between nature and the gods.

But now, Artemis had awakened and was using her divine power to heal the wounds the gods had inflicted on this world.

"She had to awaken, or she would surely be abandoned by the natural primordial force. The war of the gods has caused too much damage to nature."

Thetis knew Artemis's character and nature, "She ultimately cannot avoid the conflict between Gaia and Zeus. She must make a choice now."

Li Mochen looked thoughtfully at her, "So, you are certain that Zeus will definitely betray Gaia?"

"Of course!"

Thetis raised her chin slightly, her sneer deepening, "In the past, Zeus was reborn in the Bright World at the rank of deputy god-king. His purpose was definitely not to help Gaia achieve the feat of becoming the Supreme God! They cooperated in the mythological age, but the basis for that cooperation no longer exists. What now maintains their relationship is only the oath they swore back then. But this oath—look, isn't Gaia also constantly on guard against him? She knows that oath may not hold."

"If what you say is true, then the outcome between them will be decided soon—"

Li Mochen paused, looking ahead with deep meaning, "One after another, it seems she has made her choice."

He gave permission, and then a goddess's figure manifested in this hall. It was the nature goddess Artemis.

After appearing, she got straight to the point.

"I wonder if there is a place for me, Artemis, before Your Majesty's throne?"

"Before my throne, there is no nature god. However—"

Li Mochen looked at her meaningfully, "I do not know if the nature goddess is sincere. If one day I fight against Gaia and Zeus, would you abandon me? Or even betray me?"

"I am willing to guarantee my sincerity in the name of nature. As long as Your Majesty treats me fairly, I will never betray you. Even if one day I must leave you, it will surely be a friendly and peaceful separation. Nature nurtured me; I cannot betray nature, Your Majesty."

Artemis looked at Li Mochen with some helplessness, "I am also willing to fight for you against other pantheons, but if it is Gaia, Zeus, and Apollo, please let me stay away from them."

"Hypocritical!"

The sea goddess Thetis sneered, "You have in fact betrayed Gaia and also Zeus."

"It is not betrayal. As I said, nature nurtured me. I do not wish to be torn between them, but I also do not believe I owe them. The Goddess of Magic Diana relied on Gaia's power to be resurrected three times; Artemis did not. It was nature that gave me power to fight for my father, not a gift from my father. What do you think, Lady Thetis?"

After Thetis fell silent, Artemis again met Li Mochen's gaze, "Your Majesty! I believe our interests and views of the world are aligned. The Bright World is already scarred. I can call upon all druids to heal the world's wounds, but this requires support from you and your pantheon."

"You have convinced me! Then swear in the name of nature and the roots that you will not betray me or my pantheon, and will fight for me, will you?"

Li Mochen said thoughtfully, "As a reward, I will grant you the status of a major god and sufficient support to keep you independent from the conflicts of Gaia and Zeus."

Artemis's eyes brightened, and then she bowed to Li Mochen as a subordinate god.

"As you wish, my lord."

At the moment Artemis swore the oath, a massive, extremely pure green energy burst from her body, instantly spreading throughout the domain and then dispersing across the entire world.

That was the natural energy Li Mochen had forcibly extracted from the entire world through the magic network. He handed it over to Artemis and the druids who believed in her to use.

Li Mochen felt he was truly cunning. The magic network entrusted to him by the Goddess of Magic had now become a tool for him to control Artemis. And what these two goddesses wanted to do was exactly what he was striving to promote.

At this moment, Li Mochen also felt the surging primordial force of the entire world. About an hour later, he acquired his first and second true 'pseudo-truth'-level divine authorities.

Not time and fate, but 'guardianship' and 'asylum.'

This world, and the humans living in it, were calling out in disaster for their 'defender' and 'protector.'