The legendary Ninth Layer is the place that is closest to god. Du Ze didn't know what the Ninth Layer of Heaven in the Divine Comedy1 was really like, but the place they went to was very strange.
It was a space full of light. There were two huge white stones suspended in the sky. Because the light elements were everywhere, all objects – including the stones – had no shadows. It gave people a feeling of emptiness. The size of the two white stone slabs was difficult to describe. The sides of both slabs had identical gold patterns . If he had to describe what they looked like, Du Ze felt that if they were vertical rather than horizontal, then they would look like an enormous ... door?
Beneath the white stones there was an extremely magnificent and elegant building. The spiral staircase in front of them was luxuriously Baroque in design. The angel who had brought Du Ze and Xiu to this place pointed to the staircase and said: "We are going to walk up there."
Du Ze's expression cracked. The spiral staircase was at least hundreds of floors tall! Are your wings just for decorations?!
"Why not fly up?" asked Enoch.
"Fly if you can." The angel glanced contemptuously at the thief then took the lead in climbing the stairs.
After the angel said that, they found out that in this place, flying was definitely impossible. In fact, don't even mention flying – even jumping was not allowed. It was as though there was an invisible hand pressing down on their shoulders, forcing them to stay on the ground. Whenever anyone tried to leave the ground, they were be pinned down and unable to move. Xiu's spatial magic was also unusable. This kind of prohibition seemed to be part of the Tower's rules so they could only obediently follow the angel in climbing up the stairs.
One after the other they climbed and climbed, continuously circling around. Du Ze collapsed on the 20th floor so Xiu took him in his arms and carried him all the way up. A silly, cute person was sad when he discovered that the Moe Lord seemed to have formed an embarrassing habit of taking him in his arms like this, but what was worse was that Du Ze was already used to the Moe Lord's princess carry.
What "moral integrity"? It's been lost and forgotten.
Xiu suddenly stopped in the middle of climbing and stared at the spiral staircase's central column. His penetrating gaze seemed to see something inside.
"What's in there?"
The angel stopped then tapped on the central column with this staff. The white wall of the column became transparent, showing everyone what was inside. Alice and Violet covered their mouths with their hands in shock when they saw the giant imprisoned inside. The giant was as tall as the spiral staircase – no, it looked like the staircase was actually built around the giant. He was bound by thick chains and his bent arm supported the platform at the top of the staircase, motionless.
The angel put down his staff and the wall became a little less transparent. "As my lord saw, it was just a Titan."
****! It's a Titan! In "Mixed Blood," Titans are demigods born from the union of two gods. Unexpectedly, it was placed here as a prop. Du Ze didn't know how to react to this. Right before the wall became completely opaque, he thought he saw the Titan lift his eyebrows slightly and for a moment his sad eyes seemed to plead for help.
Nestled in Xiu's embrace, Du Ze wondered if this was some sort of flag or just a background detail.
They continued climbing until they came to the end of the spiral staircase. Du Ze was finally put down by Xiu and stood in front of a circular altar. Here, the two huge stone slabs in the sky were very close to them. It was only when they stood at the top of the spiral staircase that they discovered how big it was. It even blocked Du Ze's view of the sky.
"My God is at the other end of this door." The angel raised his staff to point to the center of the altar under the white stone slabs and proclaimed in a passionate tone: "The god of light is there. Xiu, please kneel in front of this holy altar and swear to god that you will be the next governor!"
The two white stones in the sky really is a door and the BOSS is on the other side of it. Du Ze glanced at center of the altar. The Moe Lord must kneel there to meet the tsundere god of light.
——**** it, are you kidding me? (rage comic face)2
Du Ze was dead certain from the very bottom of his heart that they had now met the greatest problem they had ever encountered in the Tower of God. This sort of thing would be easy for the other tower climbers to do, but for them it was extremely difficult. For the Moe Lord to kneel down to the god of light ... he can't even imagine it!
"The god of light is behind this door?" Xiu asked suddenly.
The angel nodded cautiously: "Yes, so please kneel to god to show ..."
"Kneel?" In front of everyone, Xiu glanced at the angel and the corners of his lips slowly turned up. "Why should I kneel?"
The angel drew a deep breath. Beneath the gaze of those blood-red eyes that looked as though they were about to drag the angel down into the abyss, the angel's stuttered a bit as he said: "You, you must kneel to enter the god of light's household, in order to-"
"To become governor?" Xiu repeated the angel's words with a mocking smile on his lips as though he was puzzled by something. "And then? Like the previous governor, I will have to go on inspection rounds to collect light elements?"
Du Ze's eyes widened in shock. As Xiu spoke, Du Ze's brain was flooded with thoughts as the reader seemed to understand everything and nothing at the same time.
"The previous governor was also a tower climber." Xiu casually uttered a shocking fact. "Just kneel down and I'll be governor ... No." Xiu rejected the offer and his smile widened. "Why should I become a puppet?"
Thump.
Du Ze's heart beat wildly for a second. At that moment he realized that this was the most insidious trap that the angel trial had set for the tower climbers. From beginning to end, the angels had always said that the goal was to become the governor. The final outcome of this is that the tower climber really will become the governor. Du Ze finally understood what had happened to the previous governor.
Inside the Tower of God, none of its creatures will ever say "pass this trial" since they are like NPCs in a video game and therefore have no idea about things outside of the simulation. The former governor, though he was an angel, was actually a tower climber ...?
The more Du Ze understood the angel trial, the more frightened he became. Just one small mistake and it would be like stepping into quicksand – a person will get trapped deeper into the angel simulation. Du Ze didn't know how many tower climbers had been tricked into kneeling but it was probably a lot because, whoever it was – god or mortal– people had the tendency to obey stronger people. However, the Tower of God, as always, was based on Yi Ye Zhi Qiu's setting.
[The Angels gave away their humility, received healing.]
True arrogance is not only aimed at people who are ranked lower. Truly arrogant people will also want to step on the feet of those who are higher ranked.
The silver dragon looked up at the huge door in the sky. The blood-red eyes burned with ambition, hot enough to burn the door down.
"I came here to kill you, not to be your puppet."
The huge stone slabs that covered the sun were suspended in the air above them as though the door was laughing at the tiny people below who had overreached themselves. The shocked angel regained his composure and pointed to Xiu. When he spoke to Xiu, this time his voice was no longer respectful: "Are you, are you going to become one of the fallen?"
Xiu nodded his head slightly. His silver hair fell down and the corners of his mouth were turned up in a mocking smile. "I've always wanted to."
The words were like a signal. Du Ze felt that his hand was hot and when he raised his left hand, he saw that it had the symbol of a broken wing on it. Now that he was one of the fallen, Du Ze didn't know whether he should laugh or cry.
Rachel and the others hadn't been to the inspection tour so they didn't know the broken wing symbol's significance. Nonetheless, they quickly prepared themselves for battle when they saw countless angels coming from all directions, looking aggressive and unfriendly.
Due to the prohibition on flight, the Angel Army needed a certain amount of time. Du Ze looked up at the floating gate. Before the angels arrived, they should try to find a way through the gate. Their problem was the same as the angels': the prohibition on flight meant that they couldn't even reach the giant door that was around 10 meters above them, much less open it.
The thought made Du Ze look around them and when he saw the altar beneath his feet, he suddenly remembered something – the Titan!
The spiral staircase was built around the Titan and the altar was also lifted by the Titan. The Tower of God had clearly hinted that they could open the giant door by freeing the Titan from its chains.
Du Ze looked excitedly at Xiu, eager to explain his thought process to the little Moe Lord – eh?
The tall and handsome silvery-gray-haired youth had suddenly condensed into a fair and tender young shota. For a split second, Du Ze's brain short-circuited, unable to grasp what was happening.
The flaxen-haired gnome stood in the middle of the altar, stretching out his hand to the huge stone door, and the large sleeve and star-chain slid down from the slender wrist, looking somewhat comical and lovely. However, no one dared to despise that small figure. Enoch and the others watched as a number of thick metal pillars sprang out of the void like daggers stabbing into a thin piece of paper. As though they were tearing something open, the metal pillars moved away from each other and a huge fissure appeared in space, revealing a metallic mechanical figure.
"That is ... What the...?" Enoch's voice was like a broken radio with the sound intermittently going on and off. The expression on his face was one of disbelief.
Rachel breathed heavily as she looked at the mechanical face as though she was remembering a nightmarish episode from her past.
The mechanical figure's gigantic eyeball turned towards them, making everyone shudder. The metal pillars kept on tearing space apart and more of the mechanical figure was revealed. Head, body, arms, ... the mechanical puppet's body was about to emerge from the void. Shockingly, they realized that the 10-meter-long metal pillars were its fingers.
"Riiiip."
Ariel couldn't make any sounds but she still wanted to scream as a mechanical puppet stepped forward from the void and stood in front of everyone, almost filled up her entire field of vision.
In the Kabbalah's shadow, Xiu looked up with a sweet smile. He spread his hand. The gap between his fingers wasn't large but those small and exquisite hands were in complete control of the huge door.
"Open the door." Xiu's voice was soft and sweet, like sugar melting and he spoke as though he was like someone who had come to visit a friend. Kabbalah lifted its mechanical arm over the giant white door. It's movements were quite forceful, making the entire space shake.
"Rumble-"
The huge door shook; the whole world shook. The spiral staircase collapsed a little and countless angels fell down together. Du Ze didn't have any attention to spare to wonder if the angels were falling to their deaths. He was too busy trying to keep his body upright. Even though he knew that the Moe Lord had the Kabbalah, he still instinctively felt a trace of fear when he saw it.
It's so powerful...
The huge mechanical puppet opened its metal mouth and uttered a silent roar. The white door was finally unable to remain closed in the face of the eight-star mechanical puppet's terrifying power. The Kabbalah had opened a small crack. A dazzling light pierced through the door and engulf everyone with a dull roaring sound.
Du Ze felt that the world was dyed pure white for a moment. When the white faded a little, his field of vision was suddenly full of a gold color. Du Ze stared at the magnificent temple; it wasn't just him, everyone else was in a momentary state of shock from being teleported to this place. Only Xiu kept his composure as he stared at the god sitting on his throne in front of them. The corners of Xiu's mouth curved up but this expression on his face did not convey a gentle feeling. "Long time no see."
Sitting on his throne high above them, the god of light gazed down at Xiu with a complex look in his eyes.
Du Ze's eyes kept bouncing to and from Xiu and the god of light. This is the third and final showdown between them. Of course, the outcome of this doomed confrontation is preordained. Each novel has a Final BOSS. The ultimate goal of the novel is to defeat him. Once that is finished, so is the novel. Although YY novels these days often have a Hidden BOSS who will dramatically jump out at an appropriate moment, such a hidden boss is, emotionally speaking, trivial. A Hidden BOSS just can't compare to the Final BOSS whom the novel's protagonist has been working to defeat from the start to the end of the novel, like Xiu and the god of light.
Dealing with the Temple of Light's forces and the god of light was always the main plot of "Mixed Blood." Right from the start, the god of light always wanted to kill Xiu. In the Sky City and the beastkin village, the god of light never tried to hide his intention of killing the protagonist. It's an inevitable story arc, just like how the protagonist always has a golden finger (cheat). The mutual antagonism between the protagonist and the BOSS is irreconcilable and constantly intensifying. Therefore, even though they have already guessed that there will be a Hidden BOSS – the Creator God – still the Moe Lord really wants to bring down the god of light.
"I'm in a hurry so let's finish this." Xiu didn't bother with pleasantries and spoke plainly to the god of light. The gnome smiled as if he was urging his little friend to play a game with him: Press the "start" button now, let's play right away since I don't have much time.
The Kabbalah's mechanical arm passed close to Xiu's body as it struck incredibly fast.
"Boom!!!"
The god's throne was ground into powder and a powerful wind pressure blew back the gnome's flaxen hair. Xiu smiled. That smile was too innocent, with a child-like pure cruelty. The Kabbalah lifted its heavy fist; the broken throne was empty and the god of light had disappeared.
Everyone was on alert. The Kabbalah turned its huge head. It seemed to move clumsily, but in fact its mechanical eyes had scanned the entire temple in an instant and focused on a certain point in the air.
The temple was similar to the Pantheon in Rome and had an enormous domed ceiling. It was so large that it could even contain the Kabbalah inside it. Rays of light were converging above the temple. The god of light, who had been crushed after he was unable to dodge the Kabbalah's attack, resurrected and looked down at the huge eight-star mechanical puppet. When he saw Xiu smiling at him, the god of light could no longer maintain his cold and arrogant attitude and the expression on his face became distorted with anger.
Compared to him who was imprisoned and his full power suppressed by the Tower of God, that heretic is strong enough to trample him under the soles of his feet. The god of light could imagine how glorious the future would be for the person that "the rules" doted on. That heretic would replace him– no, not just replace him as the head of the gods, rather that heretic would be placed even higher than him as the Supreme God, admired by everyone.
No, he can't accept that!
Extreme hatred and envy made the god of light's eyes look crazy. He will kill the heretic. Even if "the rules" won't allow it, even if it costs him everything, he will kill that heretic –
Before the god of light had a chance to fully materialize a new body, the Kabbalah reached out its hand and grabbed the god's incomplete form. Because of the size of the mechanical puppet, even a god looked like an ant. The god of light's body was destroyed once again, but he can regenerate it as long as there is light. On the far side of the temple opposite of the Kabbalah, the god of light quickly resurrected and this time cast his spell before his body was complete.
Once again, the familiar giant ball of light flooded Du Ze's vision with dazzling brightness, like a sun that was about to fall on them. Without Xiu having to instruct it, the Kabbalah immediately used its metal hand to grab the ball of light.
"Bang!!!"
In the midst of the dazzling illumination, the giant mechanical hand melted a bit as it shattered the ball of light and the god of light was instantly crushed into powder by the hand.
Violet and the others were dumbstruck as they watched the battle between the god of light and Kabbalah.
Du Ze looked at Xiu beside him; Xiu looked calm and composed even in the midst of the intense battle. With the Kabbalah's help, Xiu is invincible. However, powerful figures often have an Achilles' heel. This fearsome mechanical puppet has an equally terrifying energy requirement – three godheads, countless dragon energy crystals, and tons of rare materials are needed to power the Kabbalah for a day.
Once again, the god of light's body was restored. He and the Kabbalah are in a tug of war. A war of attrition is the specialty of the support-types and the god of light can win the battle by fighting the Kabbalah until its energy runs out.
"Can you make an elemental seal?" Xiu suddenly asked Rachel.
Rachel was startled, then nodded respectfully and replied: "Yes, but it will take a little time."
"Go and seal the temple."
"Yes, sire."
The demons spread out and began to cast the sealing magic. The god of light noticed what they were doing and wanted to stop them, but he was blocked by the Kabbalah. Whatever bit of attack magic that leaked through was intercepted by Muir and Old John.
A purple-black magic circle was drawn on the floor of the temple, like a desecration of holy ground. When it was finished, Rachel inserted two knives into the center of the magic circle to activate the seal. The entire temple was completely enclosed by a transparent membrane. Now the elements outside of the seal wouldn't be able to enter, nor would the elements from inside be able to leave the enclosed space. At the same time, Kabbalah shattered the god of light's ultimate spell then used its palm to protect Xiu, Du Ze, and the others.
At the last second, right before they were covered but its hand, Du Ze looked up and saw that the mechanical puppet had opened its mouth wide. The shadow of its hand then covered Du Ze's vision so he couldn't see what was happening outside. He felt a series of vibrations as the god of light used its light attacks on the Kabbalah, but even when it was attacked, the Kabbalah was motionless as it protected everyone with its hand.
When the Kabbalah raised its hand to release them, Du Ze looked around in confusion – was he still in the Kabbalah's hand? He was no longer in a glorious temple; everything around him was dark. Du Ze looked up in wonder at the huge mechanical puppet. Did the Kabbalah swallow all the light elements in the temple?
Since the god of light can not die as long as there are light elements, then the all of the light elements must be removed.
The Kabbalah reached out to the god of light. This time, there are no light elements to restore the god's body and when the mechanical puppet reduces him to powder, there won't be a resurrection.
"Don't kill-"
Du Ze had only spoken half of the sentence when the Kabbalah's hand crushed the god of light. Du Z's heart seemed to stop for a moment – there were many things he wanted to ask the god of light. For example, what did he mean when they spoke when they were in Sky City? And also, what about ... the God of Creation.
Xiu glanced at Du Ze then turned his face away. Du Ze saw that the Kabbalah was kneeling with its fingers curled towards its palm, holding the god of light who Du Ze thought the Moe Lord had destroyed. The Kabbalah was holding the god of light by his wings, as if it was presenting a gift to Du Ze.
Du Ze couldn't help but look at Xiu, but he found that the other person had turned his face away. All Du Ze could see was one tender, white cheek. Du Ze knew that the Moe Lord greatly detested the god of light and that the subject of the God of Creation was also a dangerous minefield. Even so, Xiu restrained himself from killing his enemy and allowed Du Ze to ask the god of light about the annoying God of Creation.
Du Ze's heart was moved. In order to repay the Moe Lord for his kindness, a silly, cute person decided to be quick about it. He walked towards the god of light.
The moment Du Ze came near, the god of light, unable to move, jerked his head up and looked at Du Ze with an unreadable expression on his face. "It's you."
Because he wasn't good with words, Du Ze went directly to the point: "Do you have any news about the God of Creation?"
Just like the other gods who ruled their pantheon, the god of light was a bit surprised when Du Ze asked about the Creator God. However, when he had regained his composure, there was no confusion in the god of light's eyes. It was clear that the god of light thought that it was normal for Du Ze to ask about the Creator God
"Of course I know."
Du Ze felt the blood in his veins speed up its circulation. He stared intently at the only god who seemed to have a real clue about the Creator God. Du Ze's heart was excited by the revelations that were sure to come: "Tell me."
"I will tell you." The god of light and Du Ze looked at each other, eyes burning with intensity. The god looked almost eagerly at Du Ze, as if the black-haired youth was the devil who could grant him vengeance at the cost of his soul. "But only after you kill him!"
Even though he didn't say a name, everyone knew who the god of light was referring to. Except for the people directly involved in this matter, the others felt that it was funny – how could Du Ze kill Xiu?
Of course, Du Ze rejected the god of light's terms just as they had expected: "I will not kill Xiu."
"Don't you want to know more about the God of Creation?"
Du Ze shook his head. His tone of voice was very natural when he spoke, as though was saying something that was common sense that needed no explanation nor justification. "Even if I cannot get the information about the Creator God, I will not kill him."
–I'll never kill him, even if I have to stay here forever.
The god of light gazed at the black-haired youth. That person has once again rejected his proposal.
Even in the face of great difficulty, for that heretic, that person would give up his desire and would follow that heretic without complaining.
"Ha-ha ..." That's ridiculous. It's quite ridiculous. "I changed my mind. I will inform you of your relationship with that person." "
This person is obviously, obviously...
"You are the one who was chosen by the Creator God. There's only one way to kill the heretic. You are that way." The god of light's lips curved up in a twisted smile. "The reason why I had you taken to me is because the Creator God told me that you were chosen for only one purpose – to kill him!"
The god of light's voice echoed in the darkness and passed clearly into the ears of everyone there. Du Ze stood still while the others stared in amazement at him, even Xiu. It was this moment of shock that the god of light was waiting for.
Suddenly, an eye made of light appeared. After the first eye opened, a second, then a third, then countless eyes opened in the darkness. They were everywhere, in every direction, watching all of the living creatures in the center of the temple. The Kabbalah no longer pinched the god's wings because his wings dissolved into points of light that were absorbed by the ball of light in front of the god's chest.
Du Ze stared at the eye-shaped sphere in disbelief – Verdict?!
No, although it is similar to the original Verdict that Lilia used in the Sky City, the eye in front of the god of light was more delicate and terrible. It was as though this was the true form of that skill.
"This is my weapon, Verdict."
It really is Verdict!
Du Ze stopped breathing when he heard the god of light's words. Verdict is the angels' most powerful weapon. The user sacrifices his life to power it. Xiu was almost killed by Verdict before. Yi Ye Zhi Qiu did not write a detailed description, but he wrote that once the Verdict was locked into a target, that person cannot avoid its deadly attack.
"Don't look-"
When he heard Du Ze's warning, the god of light whose body was disintegrating smiled mockingly: "The real Verdict doesn't need to lock on its target that way."
In the middle of the countless eyes, half of the god of light's face dissolved, but even that half showed his malice.
"Because this weapon does as it is commanded."
The god of light said: "You are dead."
His words were true; the moment he said this sentence it became reality.
"Du Ze...!"
A sudden pain made Du Ze's face twist. He gritted his teeth hard enough to break them, as if to drive away that terrible pain. Cold sweat made his black hair wet. Du Ze breathed shallowly and quickly. His vision was turning black. The Verdict had opened its eyes, ready to shoot out black light.
Why does it hurt so much? The Verdict hasn't launched its attack yet but it seems as though countless rays of light had already pierced through his body; he felt like a piece of cloth that had countless large holes in it.
Warm red liquid flowed down from his forehead into his eyes. Du Ze lifted a hand to wipe it away. When he saw the big hole in his right hand, he was stunned.
Why can he see through his palm? Why is he bleeding? Why is it so painful – it's like he is just a bit of tattered cloth!
"That's Verdict. Once it's activated, it can't be stopped." The god of light's voice was subtly mocking, the voice of someone who was laughing at other people. "Its primary trait is that it always hits its target, no matter how that person tries to defend or evade."
The corners of the god of light's mouth spoke of his satisfaction and insanity right before he disintegrated completely.
"I finally killed you, ha ... haha ... "
... No way ... How could Xiu die ...!
The ominous words of the god of light were more painful that his wounds. The black-haired youth tried to lift his heavy eyelids to look for Xiu.
He had just heard Xiu calling him...
"Splurt-"
A large amount of blood poured out, the heat of life flowing out of his body. The dark eyes all around him silently witnessed the death of the black-haired youth.
Before he died, Du Ze was not able to see the one he cared about the most.