The radiance shone upon the earth, lasting for seven days and seven nights without pause.
An unending daylight blanketed heaven and earth. The fog of war was broken through by that colossal tree of light, and the city dwellers gazed up at the sky, watching the radiance that cascaded down.
The old Company L, after losing its singularity core, declared total bankruptcy. But news of the Smog War, amid that endless daylight, had already ceased to draw anyone's attention.
Everyone's eyes were drawn to that brilliant radiance, utterly enraptured.
At this very moment, the Underworld.
Anthony (Prometheus) leaned against the railing, gazing from afar at the radiance gently blooming within the Underworld, and at the core in its deepest depths, gradually being replaced and filled in by that light.
The ten Sephirot linked to one another, forming in the depths of the Underworld a complete Tree of Kabbalah.
Lord Laojun reached out a hand, ceaselessly stabilizing the newborn tree. By now, there wasn't even time to voice his grievances about a certain someone.
"Fourteen days of radiance, huh."
At last, Anthony (Prometheus) sighed softly under his breath and withdrew his gaze. Turning his head, he caught sight of Carmen walking through the Underworld, and his brow arched slightly.
"Congratulations."
Anthony (Prometheus) waved lightly toward Carmen, smiling as he spoke:
"You're now the first of our prison-sentence trio to come back to life."
Carmen shot Anthony (Prometheus) a glare, but didn't say much else—she simply came to stand at his side, glanced at her own skin as it was now, and let out a breath.
"How do you feel right now?"
"To tell you the truth, I've never felt this good."
Carmen gazed off at the radiance being projected into the distance, and all at once, she began to laugh.
"Come to think of it, a scene like this feels like it happened a long time ago too. Back then you'd only just left the city, and you'd even spirited Angela away."
"Good timing—good things come in pairs. Why don't you give Angela back first?"
"Ahem. Why are you still hung up on that."
Anthony (Prometheus) gave two light coughs, his expression seeming a touch awkward.
"Of course I am—back then we were still on the Stygian Vessel, not in the Underworld."
"Speaking of the Stygian Vessel, why don't we go take a look at it? What do you say?"
Anthony (Prometheus) sparred verbally with Carmen, making the corner of her eye twitch as she keenly felt one thing. Sometimes, once certain people went over to the capitalists' side, they could never come back.
But after a single sigh, Carmen said no more.
She regarded her own body, feeling that body of hers now nearly fused as one with the light, as well as the consciousness that existed within the river, and softly sighed.
Carmen's resurrection ritual was now thoroughly complete.
At the same moment the Seed of Light was launched, not only did the city and the Underworld each receive seven days of radiance—Carmen, too, at last fully came back to life.
From the blooming radiance, beneath the quietly flowing river, she had already utterly merged into all of this.
In a certain sense, it wouldn't even be an overstatement to say she had become one with the city.
She existed among all things of the city. The Seed of Light dwelled in the bright side of everyone's hearts; the river dwelled in the dark side of everyone's hearts.
As far as Anthony (Prometheus) was concerned, this whole resurrection of Carmen's had instead made her more and more of a female ghost.
"Forget it. Although I'm still not happy about you spiriting my daughter away, I have to thank you for everything along the way."
At last, Carmen rose from the railing and spoke softly toward Anthony (Prometheus).
Anthony (Prometheus) arched an eyebrow slightly and was just about to say something, but after seeing the way Carmen was glaring fixedly at him, he sullenly held his tongue.
"Come to think of it, your own resurrection should be coming soon too, right?"
All of a sudden, Carmen turned her head and asked Anthony (Prometheus): "Since the Seed of Light has already been taken into the Underworld, there shouldn't be much left after this, right?"
"That one's, well, a little hard to say."
For a moment, Anthony (Prometheus)'s expression turned subtle. He opened the group chat and glanced at the progress, then couldn't help letting out a long sigh.
"I'll just show you directly—you should understand then."
And so, he extended a hand, and the entire Underworld fell under his control.
Then, the Underworld began to rotate, and finally, it displayed to Carmen the Stygian Vessel hidden in the very deepest depths of the whole Underworld.
That Stygian Vessel had now swelled several times over once again, with countless steel tendrils extending out, linking up to the Underworld.
The Stygian Vessel was now connected to the entire Underworld, joined as one. And because of this, Anthony (Prometheus)'s Forgemaster level had at last seen another increase, reaching level four.
"But the problem lies right here."
Anthony (Prometheus) heaved a sigh, gave a turn of his hand, and the Underworld revealed to Carmen a hollow cavity in its very deepest depths.
The cavity, by some special means, extended downward like infinitely folded space, forming an infinitely vast space.
"What is that?"
"A vessel."
Anthony (Prometheus) spoke evenly: "A vessel to elevate the Underworld to its highest level. The maximum amount it can hold is—one world."
He lowered his eyelids, gazing at that cavity, and couldn't help sighing.
This was the final obstacle.
In truth, this too was a legacy left behind by Anthony (Prometheus)'s past self. Back when he turned that old Forge Furnace Core into its present form, he seemed to have already taken many things into account.
For instance, simply repairing the Underworld wasn't actually enough for the newborn Forge Furnace Core to reach level five.
At most it would only reach level four—after all, it was just something cobbled together from the scraps and offcuts of a broken Forge Furnace Core, which was understandable enough.
And so, his past self came up with an astonishing conception. He fashioned this cavity to contain a world.
Once this world was contained, another world would simultaneously merge into the Underworld's cycle of reincarnation, thereby greatly elevating the Underworld's rank.
And thereby allowing the Forge Core to be upgraded to level five.
And so, Anthony (Prometheus) found himself stuck on this very thing.
Because, in order to design this cavity, his past self had gone to enormous lengths, and had also brought about an astonishing fact.
To keep the Underworld from falling, it would also be necessary to support it with multiple worlds, in order to avoid the scouring of the Primordial River!
A mere core only returned the Underworld to its best former state—it was only preparation for a future without falling.
The true goal had been placed upon capturing a world and merging it into the Underworld's cycle.
And his own resurrection conditions appeared, accordingly, a little bit delicate.
Anthony (Prometheus) glanced at the group chat, opened up his own resurrection conditions, and fell silent for a moment.
Hmm, the resurrection conditions could actually be called rather gratifying. Up to now, only the final two conditions remained.
But the problem was that these two conditions seemed none too friendly.
The Underworld must not fall, and, the Forgemaster level must be raised to level five.
Only after completing the transcendence of rank would Anthony (Prometheus) himself be able to transcend from being an earthbound spirit of the Primordial River, and thereby successfully resurrect.
"Prison, huh."
He sighed with feeling, put away the projection of the Underworld before him, and spoke helplessly toward Carmen:
"In short, as you can see, if I want to resurrect, I have to find another world and figure out a way to merge it into the interior of the Underworld."
"For the world it's actually a mutually beneficial good thing—equivalent to scoring a free ride on the Underworld's cycle of reincarnation. It's just a bit of a prison sentence for me, that's all."
"Find a world? Then why not just the city, how about that?"
Carmen mulled it over for a while, then promptly asked Anthony (Prometheus), only to receive a look from him as if he wanted to speak but stopped himself. The city?
Lady, why don't you listen to yourself for a second?
Even if Anthony (Prometheus) were inclined, he wouldn't really dare to touch it!
Beating up a Smoke Aggregate to bully some weaklings is fine, but out beyond the heavens of the city, those stars are probably every one of them off the charts.
To try and snatch the city out from right under the noses of those things—without a level-five Forgemaster level, Anthony (Prometheus) wouldn't dare attempt it.
The heads of the city would surely welcome him outright overnight and even show him the way, but it's a pity—Anthony (Prometheus) really doesn't quite dare for the time being.
What's more, carrying a world through traversal is also a strenuous job.
Just one sentence is enough: how exactly are you going to get a world moving, and even haul it all the way here to the Underworld?
Teleportation isn't feasible. There's no way to teleport with a world that enormous.
So, in the end, only one method remained.
Carrying a world, crossing the Primordial River.
Anthony (Prometheus) had long since experienced navigation upon the Primordial River. In his memories there were even more arduous voyages—just looking at them made him go numb.
It was a nearly impossible task. But Anthony (Prometheus) had no choice but to complete it.
It wasn't merely for his own resurrection. To be honest, by now Anthony (Prometheus) had nearly grown used to this state of being a dead man.
Resurrection would of course be better, but without it, the days seemed livable enough too. Having never tasted the vividness of life, death became bearable as well.
But the Underworld could not be allowed to fall once again.
Across the long cycle of reincarnation, it had nearly become a long-cherished wish. And now, this matter had been handed into the hands of this cycle's Anthony (Prometheus).
Though it sounded a bit uncanny to say, Anthony (Prometheus) really did seem to be the most promising iteration yet.
He had to find the Underworld such a world, so that it need never fall again.
"Forget the city."
At last, Anthony (Prometheus) heaved a sigh and spoke sincerely toward Carmen:
"I've already got a rough idea now. As for the choice of world, I've already made my selection."
Carmen looked at him, waiting for what he intended.
"Terra." Anthony (Prometheus) spoke helplessly: "Apart from me, there's still one of our prison-sentence trio who hasn't been resurrected. We can't very well just leave it be, can we?"
At that, Carmen's expression paused slightly, and finally, she nodded.
"That's true enough. Then I'll head back first—you do your best. Next time something comes up, remember to call me in to help."
"Mm, sure."
Anthony (Prometheus) gave a slight nod, watching Carmen's figure vanish before him. In the blink of an eye, only he himself was left here once again.
He strolled through the Underworld and silently opened the group chat. In his heart, he secretly made up his mind.
[Lord of the Pure White Throne: @Terra Demon-Race Female Spy, are you there?]
[Lord of the Pure White Throne: Carmen has already resurrected. Strike while the iron's hot—hurry up and deal with things on your end.]
[Lord of the Pure White Throne: I'm coming over to your side now.]
[Terra Demon-Race Female Spy: That fast?]
[Terra Demon-Race Female Spy: It's just that the situation on my end might still make it a little hard to meet.]
[Lord of the Pure White Throne: It's fine, your situation is just right.]
[Terra Demon-Race Female Spy: Is there already a way to solve the Lumberjack problem?]
[Lord of the Pure White Throne: For now, you could say there's a plan, at least.]
Anthony (Prometheus) finished typing and fell into silence.
In truth, Anthony (Prometheus)'s plan was actually quite simple.
The Lumberjacks are hard to find, and even if you find them you might not beat them—so can't I just outrun them instead?!
Just snatch the entire world of Terra away. Anthony (Prometheus) didn't believe that bunch of Lumberjacks could actually trace their way along the Primordial River and find the Underworld.
He even had reason to believe that, theoretically speaking, as long as he made it onto the Primordial River, the threat of the Lumberjacks should already be lifted.
As a world to be appended to the Underworld, Terra really was nothing special. There weren't actually any particular requirements in this regard—it would have been fine even if Anthony (Prometheus) had chosen Demon Slayer.
But since he'd come all this way anyway, he might as well resurrect Theresa while he was at it.
It was a convenient thing to do anyway.
Once the Lumberjacks were dealt with, all that remained was to sort out Theresa's current situation. That part was actually easy to handle—Anthony (Prometheus) already had a rough idea.
Moreover, although Terra held no special significance to the Underworld, the structure of the world itself was rather special.
Originium.
It was precisely because of this thing that Anthony (Prometheus) ultimately settled on Terra as his first choice.
He had a guess. If all went smoothly, Terra might be one of the few worlds that could be transported across the Primordial River.
[Lord of the Pure White Throne: I won't say more. I'm coming over right now.]
After typing out this string of words, Anthony (Prometheus) closed his eyes. In the next instant, his consciousness pierced through the world barrier and returned to the world of Terra.
When Haku opened his eyes once more, he had already left the Grand Flame and arrived in the distant territory of Sarkaz.
...…
Sarkaz.
Anthony (Prometheus) walked upon the earth, looking at the crack-riddled ground and this barren land, and couldn't help shaking his head. Then, he opened the group chat.
With a light flick of the transparent fishing rod, amid the rumbling of the Origin Furnace, a nearly colossal mass of soul energy began to transmit.
And so, in the next instant, Theresa—stuck far away in that bizarre space—had her expression stir slightly, as she felt the descent of some pulling force.
The next moment, a fall.
Under the urging of the colossal energy, the soul briefly fell. When Theresa opened her eyes once more, before her remained only that black-haired, purple-eyed youth.
Under the working of the Hades's great power, she had temporarily returned to the mortal world.
She gazed all around, her eyes seeming to hold a touch of novelty, but then she felt the pulling force transmitted back from above, and couldn't help frowning.
She had not yet been able to break free of that space. Right now it was more that Anthony (Prometheus) had forcibly dragged her down.
"This current state probably can't hold out for too long."
Anthony (Prometheus) tossed a soul over to her and spoke evenly.
"I can roughly feel that."
Theresa nodded helplessly, then turned her head to gaze off into the distance. That was the direction of Kazdel.
"Planning to go back and take a look?"
Anthony (Prometheus) asked. Theresa nodded, but then a somewhat hesitant look appeared on her face.
"That place will win itself a good future—believe me. As for you, sooner or later you'll have the time and the chance to go back too."
Anthony (Prometheus) gave a light chuckle and spoke thus. Then, he too raised his head, gazing off into a certain direction in the distance, as if waiting for something.
"But for now, there's something more important to deal with. Let's save the catching-up for after you've resurrected, how about that?"
All of a sudden, Anthony (Prometheus) spoke, narrowing his eyes. Theresa, for her part, was startled, then suddenly realized something.
"Just now when you called me down—was the commotion rather big?"
"Ah, yeah. Because I really couldn't pry you loose, and in the end I got a little impatient, so I just went ahead and blasted you out directly."
Anthony (Prometheus) scratched his head and spoke a bit awkwardly. For a moment, Theresa was stunned:
"Making such a big show of it—won't there be problems?"
"Hey, listen to you talk."
Anthony (Prometheus) waved a hand and said: "Drop the question mark. There will definitely be problems."
For a moment, a bewildered look surfaced on Theresa's face, but Anthony (Prometheus) only patted her on the shoulder and spoke with a solemn expression:
"Relax! I know what you're worried about, but it's fine, I'll handle it."
"If anything, I was actually afraid she wouldn't come."
"Is it really fine?"
Theresa asked, seeming somewhat anxious and worried, while Anthony (Prometheus) merely revealed a smile.
"Rest easy on that count." He said: "I have ample experience negotiating with female ghosts—in this area I'm an expert!"
Theresa: ?
What's this about negotiating with female ghosts? What's this about ample experience?
But in that very instant Theresa was spacing out, the surrounding environment abruptly changed.
Black-gray hues covered everything. Anthony (Prometheus) watched this scene and, as if afraid the other party wouldn't come fast enough, used the Hades to transmit over a bit of power.
"Here at last."
He murmured, his tone carrying a few notes of delight.
And so, after a brief wait, the Priestess—the door of whose home had been blown open—descended upon this place.
____
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