God's Grace is Not Infinite

Deep Water Port

Beyond the walls, the Star Luo Kingdom's soldiers watched the Sky Beast break free of all control and crush the Sky Temple's Priest Corps to pulp like insects.

"What's going on? How can this be happening?"

"The beast's gone mad! It's gone mad!"

"It killed Her Majesty!"

Chaos swept through the ranks. Even the kingdom's troops who had fought their way into the deep water port broke formation at once and stared helplessly into the distance.

The vassal and aide Henir had sent ahead to support the assault on the deep water port watched with their skin crawling.

Their fingers trembled beyond their control.

"Grand Duke, was this... what you were waiting for?"

They could not imagine how their Grand Duke had foreseen all this, nor did they dare dwell on the question.

Suddenly, the strange insect on their shoulder stirred. A familiar voice sounded inside their head.

Through the Consciousness Projection divine technique, their master, the Grand Duke of Volcano, had witnessed everything happening there.

At once, the vassal led the Volcano Duchy's two thousand soldiers in a final assault, leaving the Sele troops inside the deep water port no chance to resist.

The vassal charged onto high ground and roared with all their might.

"The Sele family killed Her Majesty! Avenge Her Majesty!"

That single cry rekindled their will to fight and set madness burning in the hearts of the Star Luo Kingdom's soldiers.

The maddened Sky Beast and the Sele Sea Spirit remained locked in furious battle. The Sky Beast flung itself at its enemy, repaying every wound the Sele Sea Spirit had dealt it.

Far away, at the other end of the sky, the final battle for the City of Sea Spirits had also begun.

Outside the City of Sea Spirits

Henir gazed down the road revealed by the ebbing tide. Beneath the setting sun, a magnificent city rose from the distant sea.

Every trap and hidden terror the Sele family had laid beneath the water vanished with the ebbing tide.

Through the Consciousness Projection divine technique, he had witnessed the Sky Beast go mad and the Star Luo Queen die.

Before the statue of God Yinsai, he had once sworn eternal obedience to the Star Luo Queen's commands.

While she lived, he had kept that oath.

But now, the Star Luo Queen was dead.

She had died after squandering the power granted by the divine.

Every oath binding him died with her. His most terrible shackle had fallen away.

At that moment, Henir could not name what he felt.

Joy? Or sorrow?

Perhaps it was neither.

He had never wished for the Star Luo Queen's death. Yet only her death could place what he wanted within his grasp.

Henir watched the sinking sun and the road stretching toward the horizon.

His gaze was deep.

"Everyone believes the grace of the divine is without limit."

"Everyone believes the Ruhe Beasts are eternal, and so the trilobite men may hold them forever."

"A pity."

"Even the love of the divine has its limits."

"That was God's favor to Redlichia. It was never granted to the trilobite men or to Yinsai. How could we have thought ourselves free to squander it?"

A faint glow slowly blossomed from the Ruhe brand on Henir's forehead. Beneath his feet, the mythical great beast bent to his will.

Once, he had mistaken this power for his own. Lost in it, he had believed nothing lay beyond him.

Now he felt the reality of it down to his bones.

The power belonged to the divine. Only the great divine could force a terrifying mythical monster to crouch like a slave at one's feet.

He was no different from the other houses of the Royal Bloodline. They were all fools who gazed up at the grace of the divine and mistook it for strength of their own.

Bearing Henir, the Burrowing Demon Worm plunged into the earth and carried him into the distance.

At a single command, Henir resolutely launched his all-out assault on the City of Sea Spirits.

With the way to the City of Sea Spirits open, with the Sele Sea Spirit away, Henir drove the Burrowing Demon Worm and his soldiers into the city with lightning speed. He did not know how much longer the Sky Beast could hold the Sele Sea Spirit, and he did not know when it might race back.

One thing, however, he knew.

He had to finish everything before the Sele Sea Spirit returned.

Wooo!

The Burrowing Demon Worm erupted from the earth and smashed through the massive stone wall.

Packed shoulder to shoulder, the Volcano Duchy's soldiers followed the Burrowing Demon Worm into the City of Sea Spirits. The conquest and slaughter began.

Without its great beast, the City of Sea Spirits was powerless before the Burrowing Demon Worm.

Standing atop the Burrowing Demon Worm's head, Henir swept his Ruhe Sword forward.

"Kill!"

"The Sele family killed our queen! Leave none of them alive! Every treasure in the palace is yours!"

"Now avenge Her Majesty!"

Henir's cry sent every soldier and priest of the Volcano Duchy into a frenzy.

No one could say whether rage at the queen's death or greed for treasure drove them onward.

They hacked through the Sele family's soldiers and guardian priests, driving them back step by step until they knelt in surrender.

Crowds filled every main road, wailing as they fled for their lives.

The royal palace had also dissolved into chaos. Everyone inside fled blindly, desperate to escape.

The truth was plain to see. The Sele Kingdom was finished.

A panicked crowd hurried through the tunnel leading from the royal palace into the sea, fleeing toward the seabed.

Supported on either side, the aged king of the Sele Kingdom hurried onward, crying out in defiance.

"The Sele Sea Spirit is held fast. It cannot return to us now."

"That base, shameless bastard! When next we meet, I shall make him pay the most terrible price of all."

"We have not lost. So long as the Sele Sea Spirit lives, the throne is still ours."

"The Star Luo Queen is dead. Get clear of this place, bring the Sele Sea Spirit back, and we take everything back with it."

They meant to flee, avoid the enemy's strength for a time, and bring their Sele Sea Spirit back.

Yet Henir roamed beneath the earth on the Burrowing Demon Worm, and the slightest tremor led him straight to the fugitives.

The Burrowing Demon Worm's monstrous head forced its way into the tunnel, slime spraying from its hideous mouthparts.

"I have found you."

The great beast swept its exposed head around the tunnel. In the blink of an eye, it swallowed everyone near the Sele king along with the surrounding stone, grinding whoever remained to pulp.

Confronted by the Burrowing Demon Worm, the king of the Sele Kingdom collapsed in terror.

"No!"

"I am the king of the Sele family! I am a descendant of King Redlichia!"

"Sacred blood runs in my veins. You cannot do this..."

Henir gave them no chance to plead. He was the black mire that had swallowed the Hosen family whole, and he despised every house of the Royal Bloodline.

With one stroke of his sword, Henir severed the old king's head and seized the Ruhe brand he had kept whole and unfaded.

In the name of avenging the Star Luo Queen, Henir cut down the king of the Sele family.

He held the king's head in one hand, blood streaming steadily over his palm.

At last, a faint smile touched his face.

"Your Majesty, I have avenged you."

"And in the time to come, I shall make your dream a reality as well."

Henir climbed the tunnel toward the surface while the Ruhe Beast moved beside him, clearing the path ahead.

At last, he emerged into the open.

He stood before the Sele Kingdom's royal palace. On the far horizon, the setting sun left only a thread of afterglow, the final light before darkness.

Spreading his arms wide, he welcomed the gathering darkness.

"Now is the age that belongs to me."