Shepherding Humanity

The dilapidated and decaying town had long been deserted. Those who could flee were long gone, and those who could not were little more than bones scattered on the earth.

Boom!

A black ray of light parted the sky above.

“The Flower of Death!”

A giant black rose bloomed in the sky. A slender, tiny figure in red rose robes stood in its center, waving her staff high in the air.

The 4 Evil Gods who were locked in battle paused to look up into the sky. The figure above radiated the terrifying aura of a Level Seven Epic.

The difference of one Level was insurmountable, and although they were all the greatest of Legendary Mages, they were all extremely intimidated.

Boom!

The giant rose fell upon the town like a giant black meteor. The four Evil Gods' bodies quickly disintegrated and decayed in a tidal wave of terrifying black energy, crumbling and dissipating in the light.

Their deaths were instantaneous.

The town was left in shambles, with a giant crater left in the middle.

But Medusa did not think the battle was over.

“Show yourself, you undying Evil Gods.” She shouted while floating 10m in the sky above.

Meanwhile…

“F*ck! We were that close to kicking the bucket. An Epic is fearsome indeed.”

Akina’s Speedster was full of anxiety as the four players hid in the shadows.

“Fortunately, we've managed to keep up with the ever changing times. Our real bodies were hidden in the subspace of our Magic Box, which was located at the back of our titan’s neck. We were controlling it from another dimension, but that terrifying attack had shattered the unstable subspace and flushed us out.”

The Ultraman that they had built after years of effort was gone just like that, and they all felt utterly miserable.

But at least, they still had the core of their forces to fall back on. They had set aside various members of their species as backup, and could start mass reproduction as soon as they got back to restore their numbers.

The only problem was, they would need a lot of resources to recreate such a massive titan. Without at least three to five years, accomplishing such a feat was basically impossible.

“This is a serious setback! But if we’re still alive, then those guys must have also survived.” Akina’s Speedster muttered. In the next instant, he completely lost his composure and could only look on fearfully at the unbelievable scene before him.

Boom!

“Empress Medusa, we’ve been waiting for you!!!”

A half-finished Evil God Cthulhu broke out from beneath the earth in the vast mountain range close by. Countless stone fragments fell to the ground as it slowly straightened itself. Though it was still incomplete, its shape and size was already very close to that of the original Evil God.

“Those PKers have united? This is a trap for Empress Medusa?” Learning is a Waste of Time was shocked. “How bold of them. How many years did they prepare? I can’t believe that they’ve hollowed out an entire mountain range.”

“So those 4 weren’t content with only killing me; they were also trying to lure out Medusa.” At this time, a headphone wearing wizard leisurely walked up to them.

“WTF! You’re completely fine?”

Akina’s Speedster was stunned.

“How can that be? Even your clothes are fine!”

Longji shook his head. “My Evil God body died in an instant, but in the past hundred years, I’ve made a back up body and hid it in my spatial Magic Box. I am using it now.”

He looked up at the Evil God Cthulhu in the distance. “Those people must have also spent countless time and resources to create a new body. Then, they attempted to kill me with their old ‘Butcher’ and ‘Tombstone’ bodies, and lure Medusa out while they’re at it. The entire time, the four of them were also using their new bodies to reassemble the Evil God Cthulhu behind our backs.”

Longji was quite shaken at the moment.

Those four must have formed a secret alliance and been plotting for a long time.

Furthermore, if it wasn’t for the sudden appearance of these eccentric players, he would be dead right now! And although he hadn’t attached his gathered organs onto his body, they were still hidden in one of his magic boxes, which would have got taken away.

“They have 70% of Cthulhu’s organs between the four of them, these players only have 10%, while I have 20% of the organs on me. If those got taken away from me back then, they’d have 90% of Cthulhu's body right now, enough for them to completely rebuild the Evil God.”

Had he died just now, a 90% complete Evil God Cthulhu would have swept across the Magic World unopposed.

Longji sighed unsteadily. “Let’s go.”

“We’re leaving just like this? Shouldn’t we help?” Hands Off couldn’t help but ask.

Longji calmly rebuked him: “But what can we do? This Evil God is frighteningly strong. An Epic Level battle is not something we can interfere with. It would be great if Medusa won, but what do you think would happen if she lost?”

The 4 players had ugly expressions on their faces.

If Empress Medusa died, then there’d be no one left in this world who could oppose the Evil God Cthulhu. Will they have to rely on Ermin? But Ermin was still too young and inexperienced. She still had a long way to go…

Longji sighed again. “We have no choice but to flee while we still can! That way, we won’t fall into the Evil God’s hands even if it wins. As long as we have 30% of the Evil God’s organs, we’ll have a chance to counterattack.”

Now that the other 4 PKers have allied, Longji had no choice but to join up with these ordinary players.

“Calm down, the Evil God is still incomplete! With only 70% of its body, it’s basically a cripple right now. Its power is only ⅕ of what it should have at its peak.” Akina’s Speedster was still very optimistic.

Boom!

As if to mock him, a horrifying scene played out before them. The Evil God began to emit a frightening magic aura from its entire body.

“WTF?”

Akina’s Speedster was stunned. He had been immediately forced to eat his words.

Cerebral Bluff spoke up: “That’s to be expected. After all, each Evil God is supported by an entire Cult of traitorous Mages, who can help each of their organs train in magic.

Our Ultraman is also like that. We split it into many pieces, then scammed our faithful into helping with prayer and meditation. The entire time, they did not even know what they were helping with. You’re the only one who does not know this because you’re not a preacher, and only mess around all the time… This PKer before us is no different, most of his component body parts are Level One Mages.”

Longji nodded.

The Evil God before them was too gigantic, and it was not possible for every single one of its parts to train in magic, but a good portion of them were Level One Mages.

Although these Level One Mages weren’t sentient, the stronger the individual components were, the stronger the assembled organism became. Furthermore, with 4 Legendary Mages controlling it, it probably wasn’t much weaker than the complete Evil God Cthulhu back then.

After all, the Evil God Cthulhu of the past had not trained in magic at all!

Although Medusa was on the cusp of the Demigod Level after all these years, and was far stronger than the Emperor of Alchemy back then, it wasn’t certain if she would be a match for the Evil God.

This was the reason why Longji wanted to retreat.

***

At this moment…

“As I expected, it’s mostly recovered.”

Medusa was languidly hovering in the sky with her eyes closed. “Once I open my eyes, I’ll be staring directly at Death, huh?”

Suddenly, she snapped open her eyes and unsealed her hearing. “If I can’t even open my eyes and project my spirit, then I don’t even have the right to challenge it… It doesn't matter if it’s something that cannot be directly looked at, I will stare Death in the face without fear.”

Instantly, her head was filled with a chaotic cacophony of miserable screams, mournful wailing, and mad laughter.

“Yes, this is the kind of pressure that I wanted!”

Medusa was bent over as she clutched her pounding head. She suddenly let out a battle cry and felt the blood within her entire body begin to boil. “The Truth I’ve been seeking all this time is almost before me!”

The cacophony in her head refused to let up, but she only got more excited the more danger she was in. She knew well that only death awaited her if she failed to break through.

“Let’s begin!” The Evil God Cthulhu roared. “We cannot allow her to break through. As long as we kill her, there’ll be no one left to oppose us, and the world will be ours!”

***

Within the Babylonian capital.

Garbed in resplendent Mage Robes, Ermin was sitting upon her high throne in complete silence. Before her was an enormous magical projection, which showed a horrific battle that shook heaven earth.

The combatants had moved on from the starting town, turning the surrounding lands into shattered ruins.

While most of the witch ministers below her did not dare utter a sound, one of them couldn’t help but tremble. “Empress Medusa is doing whatever she pleases…”

“It’ll be alright, it’ll be alright… She made a breakthrough when pressured by my teacher, who came close to killing her back then. If she could do it once, then she could certainly do it again.” Ermin forced herself to smile. “Everything’s fine as long as she reaches the Demigod Level and surpasses her human limits. Even if she had not found her own path to ascension by studying the Blood of Immortality, we can still give her my teacher’s Potion of Genetic Expansion. If she uses that Forbidden Elixir, she won’t have any problem with igniting her divine park to become an Eighth-Level Myth.”

Over the years, Ermin had become the Magic World’s second Epic Level Witch, even without her alchemical armor. If she were to wear it now, it’ll still reinforce her power somewhat, but this effect will keep decreasing as she grows stronger over time.

However, she was still relatively young and inexperienced, and the Demigod Level was too far away.

***

In the Beastmen Kingdom.

“Your Majesty…” A minister tried to speak.

But the harpy queen sitting on her high throne simply shook her head, replying in a somber voice: “The fate of the entire world is riding on this battle, but there’s nothing we can do. We can only wait… and see who will become the next ruler of the Magic World. Will it be Medusa? Or… will it be the Evil God Cthulhu?”

She lowered her eyes in resignation. Since the very beginning, the Beastmen Kingdom had been the least of the Three Great Kingdoms. Because they have never produced a genius who could change the world, they could never lead, and had no choice but to be swept along by the ever changing times.

***

Amidst booming thunder, the ground fell away, leveling the small town in an instant. Empress Medusa was violently hurled backwards, crashing into a distant mountain range.

Meanwhile, Akina’s Speedster’s group was desperately trying to flee from the battle. These outsiders have gradually come to realize that they weren’t the main characters of this era; they were little more than seafoam, helplessly carried along by the great tide of history.

“While we can witness and influence history, we’re incapable of directing it.” Learning is a Waste of Time spoke softly. He felt so powerless at this moment.

“Do you want Medusa to win?”

“I don’t know.”

“If Medusa wins, then we’ll be exterminated by the natives, but even if those 4 Pkers win, we’ll still be exterminated. There’s no longer any place left for us in this world.”

They slowly walked away.

Behind them, the heavens trembled, the earth groaned.

The town finally could not take it any more and completely collapsed amidst the violent upheavals, leaving only a flat expanse behind.

“Is this… the Truth I seek?”

“I see it! Death! So that’s how it is! Without confronting Death, you’ll never even come close to realizing Death’s Truth!”

There was the sound of ecstatic laughter. Medusa laughed long and loud, full of joy, before abruptly falling silent.

“Crazy b*tch.” The heavily injured Evil God Cthulhu spat, his voice filled with lingering fear. He slowly stood up, towering over the vast plains.

Medusa had lost.

She fought to the very end, but unfortunately, fate had only blessed her once, allowing her to break through on the verge of death back then. It had not blessed her a second time.

“I can no longer sense Empress Medusa; her presence suddenly vanished. But how?”

“Can it be…”

By this time, Akina’s Speedster’s group had reached the nearby mountain range. They could not help but look back while muttering in disbelief: “What was with that ecstatic laughter? Why did she sound so happy?”

Medusa had been perfectly willing to die in the pursuit of Truth.

When they realized this, they were all shaken. Complicated emotions stirred within them. Medusa was a truth seeker to the very end. When all’s said and done, she was a Mage who was worthy of their respect.

But with this, her Epic has ended.

The Empress of Death, Medusa, had presided over the Magic Kingdom’s civilization for over 700 years. She was there for over half of its history, starting from the Era of the Three Witches, to the Dark Ages, the Era of the Emperor of Alchemy, and the Era of the Evil God’s Revival. But now, her life has ended.

She had come ready to die, but still could not take that final step into the Realm of Demigods