The ancient Sea God Stonevilla, the husband of the Water Elemental Goddess Ailos, was rumored to have challenged the Goddess of Order's authority in ancient times, and was the strongest Main God back then.
The term "strongest" was always a bit vague, but back in the day, there were multiple Main Gods in the Sea God System with him as the core. His power was enough to challenge the Goddess of Order's authority.
And unlike later generations, where people believed in Gods, the ancient Gods all relied on their own power to reach where they were. They were incredibly powerful, and Roland was able to make multiple Main Gods listen to his commands. Even Lady Storm was once his subordinate, and he even tried to make the Goddess of Order a figurehead. This doubtlessly meant that Roland and his faction were incredibly powerful.
And it was rumored that it was precisely because of his inconceivably powerful strength that he was abnormally arrogant, which led to his destruction. And when he was in trouble, apart from his wife, almost all of his subordinates not only didn't help him, they even took advantage of him in the end. Even with the enticement and secret manipulation from both major factions, it was still rare for someone to fail to such an extent.
But no matter how much the legends and history belittled Roland's personality, they all described him as incredibly powerful …
"Perhaps I can make use of this power."
Unlike most people who almost instinctively worshipped the strong, for Roland, individual power wasn't enough to win his respect. On the contrary, the personality flaws that were revealed due to being powerful would instead become the best weakness for him to take advantage of.
"Although most love isn't equal, I'm truly touched that Aylos is so deeply in love. Perhaps I … I now have a good hostage."
Yep, in a way, Roland had already maxed out his villainous talents of being a "mastermind behind the scenes," "coercion and bribery," and "hostage-taking and extortion." His initial desire to be a good person seemed to have been destined to go astray from the very beginning … By the way, if it wasn't for the fact that he always mysteriously became a villain, he wouldn't have wanted to become a good person.
From a certain point of view, personality determined one's fate. Roland definitely hadn't gotten to where he was today by luck … He was a natural-born villain.
"Eliza, don't listen to this guy's nonsense. He has to protect the Pillar of Ice, more than anyone else! Even if he falls again, he won't give up on the Pillar of Ice. "
Regenerating a Hades -level physical body wasn't an easy task. At this time, Roland was unable to move, but his will passed words of comfort to Eliza, with merciless disdain and displeasure.
And he was speaking the truth. Since he knew from the very beginning that Stonevilla would revive because of the Artifact and Soul he had left behind, how could Roland, how could he, who lacked combat power, not take him into account?
From a certain standpoint, I had indeed gone overboard. I had made a deal with Aylos, using my own death as the price for Sidunwar's revival. And now, I had created a special situation that forced Sidunwar to become my fighter … If I wanted to wait for the day that Aylos revived, I would have to protect the Pillar of Ice!
Yes, the Pillar of Ice and the revival of Ailos. At this time, Roland's arrangement was very obvious.
The Four Elemental Pillars were the Elemental Thrones of the Elemental Plane. As the controllers and regulators of elemental power, there would naturally be "Elemental Gods." And in the Plane of Hades, there were the Four Pillar Gods of Hades that Roland had repeatedly emphasized.
And it wasn't easy to reach this standard. As an existence that controlled the basic Concept of Hades, the minimum requirement was that he had to have once stepped into the realm of the gods, and then he had to conform to the definition of the element itself. Most importantly, he had to be dead …
Yes, he had to be a dead god or a mortal, with an incomplete soul, to become one of the Four Pillar Gods of Hades.
This wasn't forcing people, but the most basic rule of death in Hades. Just like how the Elemental Gods of the Elemental Plane had to be elemental creatures, the only ones who could become the God of Hades were naturally the remnant souls of the dead.
In Roland's "grand plan," the dead souls would use the Soul Ice Crystal as a temporary carrier, completely assimilating with the extreme rules of the Plane of Hades, and finally resurrecting as the Four Pillar Gods, becoming the immortal gods of Hades. And, as the price of resurrection, they were also destined to stay in Hades forever.
And this seemingly simple requirement was actually very difficult to achieve.
There was no God of Ice in this world, and the only one that was related to it was the Goddess of Frost, an evil God of Chaos. She was the incarnation of a blizzard, and her hobby was to freeze travelers who walked alone on the snowy mountains. She was as notorious as Lady Storm, a crazy woman.
All Frigid Maw members with suitable attributes and power were soul creatures, and their abilities completely met the requirements. But as special existences that were souls, they didn't have the concept of "death." Once they were injured too much, they would naturally dissipate and return to the snowy mountains, unable to be used at all.
In the end, between killing the Goddess of Frost or using Ailos, who had similar attributes, Roland chose the Goddess of Water Elemental. After all, the God of Elements and the Pillar Gods of Hades had many similarities, and the power of life represented by the water element had something in common with the life of ice. On the other hand, anyone who was mysteriously killed would have a grudge. If the Goddess of Frost still chose to take revenge and rebel after becoming one of the Four Pillars of Hades, then it would be very interesting.
"For the sake of Ailos's remnant soul, I must force her to death …"
That was why there was that trade of a life for a life. And the development of the situation also proved that Roland's choice was correct, which made him heave a sigh of relief.
And this was actually the easiest condition to achieve among the Four Pillar Gods …
From the very start, the Law Faction didn't have any other options. Only Wumianzhe had relied on the power of Law to become a God. And it was precisely this condition that made the appearance of the "Law God" the most basic prerequisite for the "grand plan." It was also precisely because Roland had successfully helped Wumianzhe ascend to Godhood that Aillé had made up his mind.
Perfecting the Concept of Law, spreading the faith of Law, sacrificing soul shards to create a Divine Body, and thinking of ways to help Wumianzhe obtain even more Divine Concepts and Divine Power. Probably only Roland himself knew about the difficulties and schemes he had gone through.
As the most basic Law of the Hades was judgement and death, the Law God and Death God had to be incredibly powerful. That was why Aillé had spared no expense in the past two years to forcefully support Wumianzhe to the level of a powerful God. And as the only Death God in the world, Aillé was also duty-bound to do so.
Of course, it was unknown when the Pillar Gods of the Hades would awaken. No, it should be said that nobody could guarantee that they would truly be able to awaken and revive. After all, even the forbidden spell that created the Hades was based on theory. The success rate was incalculably low from the very start, and nobody knew what would happen. And even if they were lucky enough to awaken, they would only be able to remain in the Hades forever. The losses and limitations would be far too great.
"The success rate of creating the Hades won't exceed 50%, and the success rate of reviving the Pillar Gods of the Hades won't exceed 50% either … You're asking me how I calculated it? Since it's either success or failure, of course it's 50%. Cough, I'm being serious. When I said this, I've already done my best and tried my best to increase the success rate. However, there are still far too many unknowns, and it's impossible to calculate the success rate. But, the more we do, the more conditions we have, and the higher the success rate will naturally be. "
Man proposes, God disposes. That was probably the case. Roland had always told the truth, even if the truth didn't seem like a good one.
The Gods of Aillé's faction naturally didn't wish for their boss, the strongest Main God, to meet such a fate. They had also considered replacing him with a Divine Concept related to death, such as Destruction, Armageddon, Guardian of the Dead, and so on. Some True Gods volunteered to replace him, but Aillé rejected them.
Yep, so it was possible for Aillé to survive. Even if he personally cut off the Cycle of Reincarnation and the River Styx, as long as he was willing to reduce the degree of change and reduce the impact, such as temporarily taking on another Divine Concept, it was indeed possible for him to survive, even if it meant that he would suffer great losses.
However, he still chose to transform himself into the Pillar of Death God of the Hades. Why? It was simply to increase the success rate of creating the Hades. Only Aillé was capable of providing the purest power of death. And in order to further increase the success rate, Aillé had even handed over his own skeleton. That was his backup plan in case he died. If Aillé failed this time, his body and soul would be destined to be destroyed.
"For the sake of the Hades and the grand scheme, Aillé has gambled everything. Not only did he hand over his own 'eternity,' he also handed over his trust. He believes that even if he's not here anymore, we can still complete the 'grand scheme' … We can't disappoint Boss Aillé."
As a leader, Aillé didn't say anything grand that would make others sacrifice themselves. Instead, he used his own eternity as the price to choose the "plan with the highest success rate." This was also the foundational reason why Roland, who had always been proud and arrogant, would sometimes half-jokingly and half-seriously call Aillé "Boss".
As for the final Tower of Holy Light, while it seemed like there were many powerful individuals of the Holy Light, there were actually zero existences that met the requirements.
As previously mentioned, Holy Light job class members' growth was quite a shortcut. Those who reached the level of a God were actually all using the God of Holy Light's gifts. "Holy Light, please bestow me with power." Although it seemed quite convenient to obtain power through prayers that fit the Holy Light's teachings, from a different perspective, this meant that the powerful individuals of the Holy Light were actually nothing more than the God of Holy Light's servants. They weren't independent existences at all. How could such powerful individuals of the Holy Light possibly become the Pillar of Holy Light that represented salvation?
"The Holy Light must be saved. That's why Estrada must die."
That letter containing the Soul Ice Crystal forced Estrada to choose death. However, Estrada smiled and calmly faced death when faced with the unreasonable requests of his favorite disciple. He even completed those harsh requests.
Before his death, Estrada reinterpreted and redefined the Holy Light. Although he was deprived of the power of Holy Light, he relied on his own power to re-enter the level of a God and become a completely independent Holy Light individual. And so, the final requirement was fulfilled.
Now, countless sacrifices were made in exchange for the establishment of the Hades. The remnant souls of the three Pillar Gods were all in a deep slumber within the Pillar of Hades. When they woke up, the invaders of the Hades would face true rulers of the Hades! Of course, Wumianzhe should have entered a deep slumber as well. However, the sly Roland managed to sneak in again by merging his two souls into one. Of course, this Wumianzhe Roland wasn't the complete Pillar God.
Just how powerful would the complete Pillar God be? Since there was no precedent, it was impossible to calculate exactly how powerful they would be. However, as the rulers of the Hades, as the rulers of one of the four major rules of the world, it was highly likely that they would be at the level of a Main God. Once they woke up, they would naturally change the entire situation.
The main reason why Roland chose the strategy of delaying time was to wait for the Pillar Gods to wake up. Forcing the entire incomplete Hades to start operating would also provide the Pillar Gods with power and nourishment, urging them to wake up as soon as possible.
The Pillar Gods were the strongest weapons of the Hades. However, they were also their only weakness. Naturally, these were the top secrets of the Hades. Unfortunately, due to a spy, all of these secrets were leaked to Cavendish.
Fortunately, Roland, who was used to acting in a mysterious way, would only tell his colleagues half of the story. Even if Cavendish knew that Ailos's remnant soul was in the Pillar of Ice, it was impossible for him to know that Stonevilla was about to be resurrected.
Obviously, the Sea God had sensed the resurrection of Stonevilla, but he had remained silent. Obviously, he didn't want to become Roland's volunteer fighter. However, since his wife had become one of the Pillar Gods of the Hades, unless he hardened his heart and left his wife, he had already been tied to the pirate ship from the beginning.
His disappearance and silence were a form of resistance and dissatisfaction. However, in front of a senior villain who "held a hostage," it was meaningless. Roland's words dissolved his uncooperative attitude.
"Once the Pillar of God's soul is destroyed, even if the Hades are lucky to survive, the Pillar Gods in it will definitely be finished. We won't have another chance to use the Four Elements to create the world …"
When this sentence lingered in the sky above the Pillar of Ice, Stonevilla, who had disappeared without a trace, suddenly appeared!
"If Eliza dies, Ailos … I don't have a girlfriend, so don't expect to have a wife!"
Thus, Stonevilla, who had originally planned to watch Eliza die, made his move.
Sidunwar's words were a blatant threat. If anyone dared to say such a thing back when he was at his peak, Sidunwar would have long since killed them. But now, Sidunwar could only obediently go into battle and become Sidunwar's fighter.
As for those "tsundere" retorts and opening lines, cough, we can forgive him. As an ancient big shot, he still needed face, and his lines still had to be a little fierce. "Look, I went into battle on my own." Yes, at least he couldn't let others see that he was forced to go into battle as a fighter.
As for whether Roland was worried about the other party's revenge?
"Offend him? What's there to be afraid of? His wife is in my hands, and he'll be my employee for the rest of his life. "
Cough, Roland probably wouldn't be able to accomplish his goal in this lifetime of successfully clearing his name and becoming a good person. This style made him seem like an evil villain, and the worst kind of kidnapper.
Currently, Stonevilla was in his strongest state. Even without that bastard's threat, Ailos's remnant soul was right behind him in the Tower of Ice, so there was no way for him to retreat.
"… So, don't worry. Let that employee be your meat shield. Since you want to become stronger, then accept my gift. "
When all the information entered Eliza's mind, while she was angry that Roland had hidden so many things from her and was such a bastard, the expressionless Eliza was actually quite delighted.
"At the very least, he remembers my abilities. This is probably the first gift he's giving me …"
Alright then, from a certain standpoint, Eliza's path of love was so difficult and low in requirements that others would cry. But right now, Roland had indeed given Eliza a gift that was most suitable for her.
That Main God-level Inferno Demon's heart was now in the hands of the Inferno Demon Queen, who was also a Main God-level Inferno Demon. All the conditions had been met, and it was as if fate had returned. The scene at Sulfur Mountain City was about to repeat itself, and a new demon evolution record was about to be created.
"… Awaken, my Soul Imprint, Marauder!"
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