Historians liked to use important events as bookmarks for their eras. When the spring of AD 1898 came, perhaps no one would have expected that the whole world would have a fundamental change. There were so many important events that happened that year, and their influence was so wide that it seemed that those scholars could write hundreds of research notes and earn money for hundreds of years.
If one were to look back at history, the changes were quite obvious. AD1896 was the Year of the Dragon. With Wumianzhe's ascension to Godhood as the starting point, the silent Aillé faction entered a period of activity. The incarnations of the Saints began to walk the earth, the schemers and messengers of conspiracies traveled the entire world, and Roland arrived on the surface.
AD1897, the Year of the Griffin. The entire world descended into a period of impending storms. Thanks to Roland and the others' efforts, the Northlands countries that won the war to defend their territories successfully became independent. The Ottoman Empire, Bardi, Xiluo Empire, the Mist Alliance, the Underground, and other countries all reached a tacit agreement in secret. The Pan-Ark faction (also known as the Hades faction) was formed.
AD 1898, the Year of the Vulture, was also the year in which the Holy War fully began. This was also the year in which many major events erupted. Although the dark clouds of war covered the sky, angels and demons from the Chaos Faction forcefully descended upon the mortal plane, Estrada's sacrifice gave new explanations to Holy Light, and the elves' internal strife and the betrayal of their Main Gods caused the elves' future to be in a state of confusion. However, if one wanted to find the greatest bright spot among all these events, they would have to look at everything that happened by the River Styx. The direct result of this event was that the original generation of AD had been abandoned, and a new generation of FT had to be created from scratch.
AD 1898, the Spring of the Vultures, which was also the Year of the Black Rats in FT1. Beside the River Styx, the guest that the white-robed young man had been waiting for finally arrived, but he still had no intention of raising his head.
"… I didn't expect that it would actually come to this."
Even Aillé himself had not expected that things would come to this. At this moment, he had undoubtedly become the enemy of the world.
The god behind him didn't seem like he would give him any more time to sigh.
This was a pair of smiling twin sisters. The older sister in front had an appearance similar to that of an elf, but she was surrounded by wood. Her grayish-brown dress was also covered in a long beard made of wood fibers. Her dark green hair was also the color of tree leaves. If it wasn't for the fact that the wood spirits didn't have adult female appearances, their auras that were so close to nature would make them seem like the wood spirits' sisters.
The elder sister had a similar appearance to the tree demon, but her younger sister had four hooves on the ground, happily galloping back and forth, just like a wild centaur.
The Sisters of Joy and Laughter were once the descendants of the Lord God of Nature. Compared to their powerful ancestors, they were still powerful Gods even though they only had a partial Divine Title.
They were the protectors of nature, as well as some of Druil's protectors and allies. Although they rarely participated in anything related to the mortal plane, they had a lot of connections and connections. Although they weren't the Guardian Gods of the elves due to the existence of the Elven Gods, they were actually the true protectors of the forest. Many of the higher-ups in their church were wood elves.
The other God was a dwarf with a red nose. His gray hair was covered in mud, and he carried a black smithing hammer on his back.
The God of Smithing and Dwarves, Dendl. Although he was only a powerful God, as the leader of the Dwarves, he had many allies and resources.
The Nature Faction and the Dwarven Faction. From a certain standpoint, these three Gods also represented two factions of power in the Order Faction, two factions that leaned towards peace and neutrality.
The four Gods before him were all incarnations, so it was naturally impossible for them to hide from Aillé's senses. But the current situation caused him to shake his head.
"… What a pity. They're all incarnations. Do you already know?"
The God of Holy Light was the only Order Main God that had come to hunt him down. Yet, he didn't move at all. It was unknown what he was thinking.
The other four Main Gods didn't even send their incarnations. It was obvious that they already knew something and didn't intend to come here to die.
"Of course, this old man isn't here to die. We're here to see you off. Right, thank you for taking care of my little girl. "
The old dwarf's words were quite direct. The Goddess of Hammers and Wine Barrels, Mary, was the Guardian God of the Shield Dwarves. She was also one of Aillé's supporters. In a way, she was the bridge between the Dwarven Gods and Aillé. And now that Mary had chosen to enter the Hades, certain things had come to light.
"Mister Aillé, thank you for taking care of us sisters."
"Mister, mister!"
The Joy and Laughter Sisters came over with smiles on their faces. The older sister waved her handkerchief in farewell, while the younger sister ran around in joy. No matter how one looked at it, it seemed like they were sending Roland off.
This was why Aillé sighed at how "pitiful" it was. But since the information that "Aillé was undefeatable by the River Styx" had spread, it was to be expected that he would receive such a result. Aillé wasn't too worried about this.
That's right, Aillé was undefeatable by the River Styx. This was a fact that had already been written into the foundational laws of the world. And as long as the Source of Order had basic logical reasoning abilities, it wouldn't allow a Main God level existence to come here to die.
Aillé's undefeatable status came with a price. Just like other Order Gods, Aillé was naturally limited by his Divine Concepts even though he had obtained them.
As Aillé was the first to die, he broke the boundaries between life and death. That was why Order loathed him. Since Aillé had lost the most basic ability to evolve and desire, he became an undead that couldn't be changed. Naturally, Chaos didn't like him either.
This was the same for the undead in this world. The Order Faction viewed them as mortal enemies, but the Chaos Faction also viewed them as somewhat useful cannon fodder. They were stuck between two factions, struggling to survive. In fact, they were even rejected by the dimensional laws of the world, which was quite difficult for them.
However, this also meant that Aillé was a third party that both sides could accept. And so, the important responsibility of guarding the River Styx was thrown onto Aillé's shoulders. After all, no matter which faction controlled the River Styx, Aillé's enemies wouldn't be able to feel at ease.
This was different from the River Styx's counterpart, the Heaven's Pillar. The Heaven's Pillar wasn't even a passageway that actually existed. Rather than saying that one believed in a True God and obtained the God's permission to enter a Divine Kingdom, it was more accurate to say that it was a law for souls that had already been marked by a God to reach the "recipient."
Every believer of a God would have a special mark on their soul after obtaining the Divine Kingdom's permission. This was a basic law, and the closer a believer was to a God, the more obvious the mark would be. That believer would also receive more attention from the Gods. In fact, the believer might even become a God's representative in the mortal world and become Valkyrie after death.
However, the River Styx was different. It was a passageway of Chaos. How could something like "law" possibly exist?
This River Styx passed through countless planes, but the vast majority of them were lower planes that belonged to the Chaos Faction. Souls that weren't guided by the Order God would all fall into the River Styx, and when they were attracted by the "Order" of a certain Chaos Plane, they would climb up and become new lifeforms. Since they had come ashore in the lower planes, they would naturally become the residents of those lower planes — demons and devils.
It could be said that the River Styx was the cradle of demons and devils. However, nobody knew just how many souls existed in the River Styx. After all, no matter when you looked at the River Styx, you would always see that it was filled with souls.
However, not many existences actually knew that the River Styx also flowed through certain upper planes. It was just that at that time, it would either be as beautiful as a dazzling galaxy, or simply transform into a rainbow-colored rainbow bridge. Back when Aillé brought Roland to the Underground World, they even appeared in an underground riverbed in a cave.
And if the Divine Kingdom "didn't receive enough souls" in recent years, there would be a huge gap between the total number of souls in the Chaos Faction and the Order Faction. The natural laws of the upper planes would be slightly changed, and souls would be attracted by the natural laws of Heaven and the Divine Kingdom. New creatures from the Heavens would also be born because of this. Of course, if the Divine Kingdom was overcrowded, the birth rate of demons and devils would also secretly increase.
Since climbing out of the River Styx represented the reincarnation and rebirth of a blank soul, it was only natural that one could become an angel or a devil.
Of course, this couldn't be told to mortals. Angels and demons being born in the same way would not only affect the believers' devoutness, just the second possibility of entering a Divine Kingdom apart from the church's approval would make it difficult for the church's atonement scrolls and donation scrolls to be sold.
Actually, not only did the mortal Roland not know about this, most of the new Gods in this generation didn't know that the River Styx actually had a second function.
In the eyes of mortals, as long as the River Styx didn't exist, the demons and devils would have countless descendants. The Chaos Abyss would also have endless potential for war. And the River Styx's hidden function as a balance valve for the Holy War would periodically harvest souls as wheat. It could be said that the River Styx was the most important part of the Cycle of Reincarnation … as well as the weakest part!
After all, the River Styx flowed for far too long a distance. Even though Aillé himself was incredibly dangerous, as long as a certain part of the River Styx was blocked, it would naturally cause problems for the entire River Styx. That was why Aillé needed a guardian, a guardian that both sides could accept.
And so, Aillé became a part of the River Styx and the Cycle of Reincarnation. As long as someone could possibly cause harm to the River Styx and the Cycle of Reincarnation, his true body would instantly descend. And now, Aillé would be strengthened by the River Styx, Order, and Chaos, becoming the scariest existence in the world. The Order Main Gods that attempted to destroy the River Styx had already used their lives to prove this fact.
This was also why Roland had to die once back in the day. Anyone who touched the River Styx would definitely fall into the River Styx. This was the most basic rule in the world, and it was a duty that Aillé had to fulfill.
"There's a loophole in your plan."
"Yes, there's a huge loophole. If we don't fix it, this entire plan will be nothing but empty talk."
That day at the River Styx, Roland, and Roland seemed to agree on the existence of this loophole from their conversation. However, they both knew what was going on, but didn't investigate further.
That's right, that loophole was Aillé himself, the River Styx's guardian. If Aillé wanted to create a new Cycle of Reincarnation, he would naturally have to destroy the previous Cycle of Reincarnation and allow his soul to enter a new Cycle of Reincarnation. Otherwise, everything would be nothing but empty talk.
And, it was obviously impossible to defeat the undefeatable River Styx's guardian, Aillé. At the very least, Roland couldn't think of any way to defeat him. At the time, it was impossible for him to use Main God combat strength. Not to mention, Aillé was someone that even a Main God wouldn't be able to face. Aillé had the entire Cycle of Reincarnation as his support and replenishment!
At the time, Roland came up with an absurd conclusion. If he wanted to stop the Cycle of Reincarnation, he would have to defeat Aillé. If he wanted to defeat Aillé, he would have to first stop the Cycle of Reincarnation. This was obviously an endless loop.
"If I can't defeat him, I'll try to talk things out."
That was why Roland sought out Aillé. In order to realize this "absurd" plan, he would need to obtain Aillé's approval so that Aillé would no longer carry out his duty as the River Styx's guardian. Making a True God give up or even destroy his own duty would be the equivalent of …
"Is it time? That's right, it's time for the River Styx, which is as ancient as this world, to change direction. It's time for everything to start anew. "
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