WHY NOT?

Aina was finally blown back, unable to withstand the carnage. Up above, Nana seemed to have finally lost her battle. The portal had slipped away into a sliver and was moments from closing. At the same time, Drake tried his best to support James, Joel, and the others, but the tide of enemies was too large. It was even to the point that most of the powerhouses were directly ignoring them, lazily allowing their subordinates to take aim.

There were a lot of sayings for what one would experience when the end of their lives came. But there were a lot fewer when it was about the end of the world.

There might have been a song or two, but nothing as profound or daunting as the real thing. There was nothing as beautiful as seeing one's life in a final spurt of consciousness, there was just nothing but endless suffering and pain.

It was hard to tell what these people even wanted. Sure, maybe the Primordial Terror truly wanted to see the end of everything. As the true Beast of Destruction, that was all it wanted. But what about everyone else?

The irony was that most of them were just selfishly pining after their own desires.

The Four Great Families had just wanted to survive. They did it at the cost of betraying their own Race.

Evergreen was the truest devout follower of nature and the course of it. In her eyes, death and destruction could only give way to life. That was the way things had always been, and that was the way it would always be. The actions of the Gods to try to extend their lives beyond reason had always disgusted her.

The God Beasts wanted a return to their former glory and power… they had been knocked down from their pedestal, so how dare anyone else have the right to rise above them…

Some only wanted short-term gain… some only wanted revenge… some were chasing after something much larger at the expense of everyone else.

But regardless of what it was, the reality was laid out before them all. There was no fighting against this.

They were too weak.

Aina coughed up several mouthfuls of blood so scarlet it hurt to look at. She rolled across the ground and felt as though every bone in her body had just shattered. And yet, she didn't seem to feel the pain. She could only wonder if there was something more that she could have done.

Her husband had always managed to find a way. Was she truly so useless without him?

She suddenly remembered a conversation she had had with Leonel a long time ago. Back then, he admitted that she was more powerful than he was… but then he had said something interesting.

… If we were to fight, I would beat you ten out of ten times… no matter how strong you are…

It should have been an insult, but she had never taken it that way. It was part of what attracted her to Leonel, part of what made him the man she loved so dearly.

He always had the confidence to face off against anything no matter the odds. © 2024.

Aina weakly lay on the ground, barely able to hold onto the Heirloom of the family she despised the most in one hand, and only able to stare into the skies.

But even so, she used the last bit of her energy to look at her finger. She raised her hand into the skies as though trying to block out the sun, all to look at her left hand.

She stared at the wedding band. Even with the sharp rays of the sun beaming down, it looked so clear in her eyes.

"Can you really do it again…?" she whispered.

She had already reached a point of blind faith in her husband. But even then, right now, she felt like maybe the best chance they had was to just die together.

It was a shame. She had really wanted to see their house full of kids…

Aina took a weak breath and tried to stand. Her wounds had already more than 50% healed. Ancient God or not, the healing capabilities of a Blood Sovereign weren't something that most could fathom.

However, it was when she was using her battle ax to stand once more that a voice echoed through the cosmos.

"[Instant Recovery]."

Aina looked up, recognizing the voice and the skill, but it was hard for her to feel very happy. It didn't seem to change much at all. But at the very least, she could see her husband's face again.

At least, that was what she thought until the voice rang out again.

Leonel, who had been ice-cold these last few hours, suddenly chuckled.

"Wife, what'd I say about believing in me?"

Aina looked up and suddenly felt the urge to roll her eyes. These odds weren't normal odds, alright? How about cutting her a little slack?

Leonel still hadn't appeared. It was as though he was everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

But right at this moment, there was a certain Variant Invalid who was completely infuriated, watching all of his hard work vanish before his eyes.

Before, despite the fact they were perfect for him, Leonel had left the Incomplete Worlds of the Invalids and the worlds of the Fallen God Beasts alone. That was because their worlds were part of the grand plan of breaking through the barrier of the God Realm, and that was precisely what Leonel needed to happen so that the target that was on his back could weaken a bit. If they failed, he would definitely be screwed.

It was ironic. In this cascade of selfish actors, Leonel was definitely one of them, and in the end, he had fed into the plans of the Demoness and the Primordial Terror just like everyone else.

Unlike them, though, he planned to fix it.

Across the Demi-God Realm, Force Arts began to appear one after another.

Leonel needed eight more Incomplete Worlds and he happened to have already analyzed these ones…

So why not take them?