How panicked had he been at the time. Like a despicable thief seeing the Lord's child returning with a knife. Although that burst of light later vanished, it left yet another scar on him.
That Cathedral City most likely had no further hidden moves from the other side. Even if it was not an intention to return as a soul, it was at least a god-favored being, clearly planning to reascend through this ritual. On top of that, who knew where they had pulled in another powerful God who had never appeared before, one who held the aspect of Daylight. The ritual was going to directly involve three major aspects of godhood, and now even the true the Lord had arrived, so how could he not panic.
This time, however, the appearance of God of Darkness was like a shot in the arm. At the very least, it showed a clear stance. No matter the reason, as long as God of Darkness urgently wanted to descend into the Material World, it would definitely need that ritual.
In other words, when the time came, God of Darkness would certainly clash with that unknown god of Daylight and the potentially troublesome Goddess of Dawn. It looked like a bad two-on-one, but in reality it would be a one-sided crushing. Through years of cooperation and contact with the Abyssal Gods, he knew a bit of the other side's true nature. Frankly speaking, the three aspects of God of Light were nothing more than ants in its eyes.
After all, aspects were only aspects, wielding only a portion of the true God of Light's power. That one, however, stood as the complete opposite side, directly opposing the true God of Light. Especially after already seizing the aspect called Twilight, combined with his thousand years of ritual preparations, even within the the Lord field of World, he could confuse the perception of the true sleeping God of Light and deceive the heavens.
At that point, parting ways with God of Darkness would also be a matter of mutual benefit. Elfido was not a fool like Edward who was satisfied after merely seizing a godhood, nor was he arrogant like Augustus. Having seen a broader world, how could he be content with the position of an old god confined within World. This thought had been born long ago, and Edward and Augustus were nothing more than contrasts to himself.
"When the ritual succeeds, those gods who obstructed me before, like the Daylight-bearing Dawn, rest assured, you will all be buried in this old world."
"And I will reascend above the former three aspects."
A ferocious smile spread across his face as he envisioned becoming a true god beyond the Lord. That was his real goal. As long as he brought in God of Darkness and dealt with God of Light and its aspect gods, he could naturally seize the souls of the entire The Continent to nourish himself through the passive influence of that conflict.
By doing so, his soul would truly transform and achieve crimson. This incomplete old world would be ruthlessly used as his Divine Kingdom. As for how God of Darkness and God of Light would deal with each other afterward, that would no longer concern him.
A war between gods could never end quickly, especially between two peak God. The process alone would be more than enough for him to profit greatly. As for what came after, that was something only worth discussing after becoming a god.
"It is just a pity that I still cannot determine which Saintess might be Dawn's backup."
"The only one locked down is that Diocese, but there are still dozens left. That is a bit troublesome."
Elfido's gaze darkened as he ran through the list of candidate Saintess in his mind. After excluding those tied to the Companion backups, not many candidates remained. The reconnaissance team of Twilight ascetics he had sent out earlier had been wiped out in an instant, and worse still, that part of his consciousness Clone had once again been completely burned away by familiar flames.
Had that Dragon returned, or was this a contingency it had left behind. Elfido stroked his beard and considered it carefully. He did not believe that the Dragon itself had returned and attacked directly, because the fact that he was still alive was proof enough.
After being killed so many times, he had some self-awareness. If that Dragon had truly come back, it would have flown over and killed him outright. The earlier flames would not have merely burned away part of his consciousness, but reduced his entire being to ashes.
In the past, he could have simply made a few accidents and killed off all the remaining saintess candidates. Now he could not. The ritual required a Saintess, because it fundamentally involved God of Light and could not be faked.
"…Forget it."
"As long as they come to Holy City to participate in the selection, they will inevitably enter my sight. There is no hiding that."
"I have plenty of chances to find out which Saintess ruined my plans."
"It seems they have already noticed something and disguised themselves, acting no different from before. Hmph, so what."
"This is my the Lord field. The advantage lies with me."
With a gloomy look, he stepped forward, and in the blink of an eye his kindly smile returned. He greeted every passing knight and Nuns along the way, appearing extremely friendly.
"Such a radiant appearance. As expected of Pope My Lord. As expected, in this selection, Twilight will surely become the great God of Light's favored one again."
Someone sighed like this, gazing with reverence at the White Tier-robed figure walking away into the distance.
"Alba, I brought the books you wanted."
After a short journey, Raina and the others finally saw the place said to never lose its light, the outer reaches of City of Everlasting Light and the Holy City. They were still far from the center, yet the brilliance there already showed how dazzling it must be. The light came from the radiance of the Holy Sword blessed by God atop Central Holy Mountain, forming a sight that felt like a miracle made real.
It was also the period of the Saintess Selection and the conference to choose the next successor under the Church of Holy Light, so the flow of people was immense. Speculators hoping for opportunity and pilgrims seeking faith all tried their best to squeeze inside. The streets around the city were packed with movement and noise from dawn to what should have been night.
They did not rush in right away, instead following Elvin as they quietly brought the hundred or so soldiers from before and set up a defensive perimeter. Her eyes swept back and forth, searching for any trace that might belong to their earlier enemies. Only after hearing that Holy City had recently been attacked did Elvin give a cold laugh, as if thinking that the traitor was no longer even trying to hide.
In her view, this had to be a mole at the level of the the Lord church leadership. She used the flames on her wings to conceal and burn away her outline, then wandered nearby with her Ashen Sword in hand as if looking for something to cut. Raina remained stationed at the outer camp, coordinating supplies and contacts.
After meeting up with dozens of other Trade Caravan units, Raina finally obtained what Alba wanted. Hugging a stack of ancient books almost taller than herself, she pushed open the door to the carriage. From the outside it looked like an ordinary wagon, but the interior space had been expanded through spatial imitation to nearly a hundred square meters.
Alba sat in the lavishly furnished sitting room inside, chewing on chips while flipping through obscure religious texts. When Raina placed the heavy pile of Book on the table, Alba nodded slightly in acknowledgment. She thanked her softly, and Raina replied with an easy smile before leaving and closing the door.
Once alone, Alba rubbed her eyes that had barely rested since the previous night. She took a sip of water to wet her throat and forced herself to keep reading, fighting the same sleepy feeling she used to get from staring at the sky and textbooks in class. The dense religious writing made her head ache, but she kept turning pages anyway.
After her earlier exchange of riddles with the Witch named Lilith, she had turned her attention back to religious books she would normally never touch. She hoped to find answers to the questions that kept bothering her. For example, both her Simulator and Lilith claimed that the object embedded in her Book was related to the Sun, and items tied to the Sun and Holy Light naturally pointed toward the Church of Holy Light and the God of Light.
Yet after all this time, she had not found any holy relic actually named Sun, nor anything with truly similar functions. She did find a hammer she used often, described as an old-fashioned long-handled bell striker, but that was about it. She also searched for any mention of her Simulator or the unknown being behind it, even skimming books about hunting heretics, but found nothing that matched.