Chapter 1 The Return of the Creator Goddess

The return of the Creator Goddess was the best news in ten thousand years for the surviving Guardians and faeries. After the collapse of the old era, nothing made them happier than the safe return of the "Mother" who had shaped the glorious age. The faeries, who were always cheerful, were naturally ecstatic. Even the usually serious and rigid giants held a grand celebration this time—right in the newly secured Nexus of Termination, around the new World Tree Temple.

Although the threat of the Lord of Mad Exuberance still existed and was more urgent than ever, this necessary celebration was still essential. It could not only dispel the long-standing gloom in everyone's hearts but also boost morale for future battles. More importantly, if there were more surviving ecological planets in this universe, with remnants of the Creator Goddess's faith, then those mortals struggling in the darkness could also find comfort.

For example, in Holleta, all the Creator Goddess's followers received oracles of the deity's return. In the more distant and darker depths of the universe, the Guardian giants also received scattered information feedback. Although that sporadic thought was far from the prosperous scene of the Dream Plane in the past, it was, after all, a spark, enough to bring some solace.

At least, quite a few sparks survived.

However, after the brief celebration, the Creator Goddess herself did not continue to play with those jubilant faeries. She greeted several high-ranking giants and returned to the depths of the World Tree Temple alone.

In the center of the temple, the "textbooks" from the Star Domain God Realm had been taken out of the boxes and neatly placed on the nearby bookshelves. Several small faeries were busy between the bookshelves: their job was to ensure cleanliness here, but now it seemed their main interest was just climbing around between the shelves.

Lia came to the bookshelf. According to the "curriculum" left by Hao Ren before he left, these books had been arranged according to subject and difficulty. She didn't need to pick from them; she just needed to follow the learning plan. So, she didn't pay attention to the surrounding books but directly pulled out the first book on the first shelf.

"《Shenzhi Gailun》... (Introduction to Gods)" Lia stroked the cover of this thick-skinned book and gently read the words on it, then held it and walked to the desk. "I hope these things will really work..."

Several little faeries hopped to the desk: "Goddess, Goddess! Are you going to read?" "Goddess, don't you want to play a round of Candy Crush first?" "Goddess, don't forget there's homework after self-study—Hao Ren told us!"

Lia gently pushed the little ones away: "Go guard the door. Tell them I'm doing homework and don't want to be disturbed unless it's very important."

After the little faeries left chattering, she opened the book with a mixture of tension and curiosity and used her divine power to focus her mind on the front page.

An unexpected passage of text suddenly appeared:

"To my bloodline descendant whom I have never met:

"When you see these words, I should be fighting on the distant frontiers of order, to stop the abyss from eroding and destroying the ordered world. I should have taught you personally, demonstrating how to use our powerful strength, but power means responsibility, and the same is true for me. Therefore, I cannot leave the front lines and can only send these books to you, hoping they will help you.

"My bloodline descendant, you have inherited a powerful and glorious bloodline. The history of this bloodline can be traced back to the age when the infinite void order was first established. At the beginning of all history, even the beginning before the beginning, our bloodline already existed, and our ancestors defended the balance of the ordered world with courage, strength, and wisdom, of course, mainly the first two—but that doesn't matter.

"What you need to know is that from the moment you inherit this bloodline, you are destined to be a brave and fearless warrior. To fight endlessly on the path you believe in is our way of survival. Don't consider setbacks, don't consider victories or defeats, don't consider any dangers or desperate situations. Even if there is a day of falling, we will face the enemy head-on... Okay, I admit this way of speaking is not suitable for me. In short, my family tradition is fight, fight, fight. If you have the determination and fighting spirit to swing a hammer and crack open people's heads in a desperate situation, then turn the next page.

"—Your mom"

Lia: “...?”

To be honest, at this moment, she really wanted to close the book and put it back on the bookshelf and do two math problems to calm down, but after thinking about it carefully, she hadn't even finished the first grade course, so it was impossible to do any math problems. Plus, under some kind of strange influence, she couldn't help but turn to the next page of the book.

The moment the page was turned, Lia suddenly felt a trance. The surrounding space turned upside down and was chaotic. Even with her power as a true god, she couldn't resist this change. When everything stabilized, she found herself in an unfamiliar space.

The surroundings were endless faint mists, and the glowing mist permeated the entire space, making it seem like it was in chaos. Underneath her feet was a layer of calm, mirror-like water. When she stepped on it, ripples spread out, but no matter how hard she stepped down, it seemed like it was only that thin layer, and she couldn't even feel the depth of the water.

Lia knew that this space should be harmless, so she didn't panic but curiously looked around. She knew that there must be a meaning to the book dragging her into this space, so she suppressed the idea of ​​walking around and waited patiently for the next change.

"Calm and composed, these are good qualities."

A voice suddenly came from the mist. Immediately afterward, a tall figure appeared extremely abruptly, as if she had been standing there from the beginning, and only now was noticed.

Lia fixed her eyes on this figure, and the latter's image gradually became clear. Lia saw a woman with features somewhat similar to her own walking out of the mist. She had the same silver-white hair and blood-colored eyes, wearing a black dress that looked like an evening gown. The long hair even dragged to the ankles. A fierce and flamboyant aura emanated from this figure—even though it was just a projection, the aura was still substantial.

More importantly… she has huge breasts…

Lia stared at the woman who appeared in the illusion, then couldn't help but look down at her chest, only to see nothing…

"Don't worry, you'll grow up in the future," the woman in the illusion said confidently. "I was like that back in the day."

"Are you… my mother?" Lia asked uncertainly. Although the other person's way of speaking didn't seem like what she had imagined, considering the words that appeared on the book page earlier, and the possible function of this space, she guessed so.

"Dark Valkyrie—that's the divine title for now, Xia Yimaier·Bingdisi·Du Yi," the woman who called herself Bingdisi pointed to herself. "Of course, I'm fighting outside at this time. What's appearing in front of you right now is just a wisp of my will, but this wisp of will should be enough to answer many of your questions."

Lia didn't care about the issue of will or not. This was the first time she had seen her "mother." A feeling of curiosity and nervousness made her seem a little flustered. After holding back for a long time, she carefully asked, "Then you came here… are you going to use this space to teach me something?"

The Dark Valkyrie shook her head: "No, learning still depends on yourself. I'm here just to show you some things."

"Show me some things?"

"That's right, but before that, I have some things I want to ask you," the illusion formed by the divine thought paused here before continuing, "Have you started to feel hesitant?"

Lia opened her mouth. She instinctively wanted to make some excuses or think of some euphemistic ways to make herself less embarrassed, but in the end, she nodded gently: "Yeah."

This was the first time she had admitted this to someone.

"Let me think… Is it the pressure brought to you by that so-called Lord of Mad Exuberance? No, it's definitely not like that. Someone who inherited my bloodline can't be affected by this little bit of pressure, then it's… you realized that many of your efforts didn't get results."

"This world used to be full of life—some of it I created, and some of it was born naturally. Countless vibrant planets used to be all over every corner of the universe. For a long time, all my actions and plans were to protect this vibrant world," Lia said slowly. "Although it was difficult, I had such a clear goal, so I never hesitated… but now, almost all of these planets that I protected have been destroyed… I left behind countermeasures, but in the end, I saved almost no one."

That figure didn't speak, just quietly looked at Lia.

"Mother, I don't know what a qualified god should be like. In fact, even if I put aside this identity, just as a protector who protects mortals, I don't know how far I can go. If everything we do can't change the final outcome, we work hard to fight to protect a world, and then this world will still be destroyed, or even has already been destroyed—then does everything we do still have meaning?"

That figure still just quietly looked at her, until Lia couldn't help but want to turn her gaze away, this high-level true god broke the silence: "Do you know how mortals resist in the face of the apocalypse?"

Lia didn't react for a moment: "Huh?"

The other person didn't speak but gently waved her arm.

The endless chaotic mist around immediately dissipated, and on the calm water surface that stretched to the end of the line of sight, scenes of images suddenly appeared.

Those were other worlds in the infinite void.